Work Package 4 - Worker Precarity

Labour precarity focuses on the uncertainty and instability that influences working conditions and livelihoods.  Our focus will be on workers on boats and at port, the initial point of contact in the seafood supply chain.  This includes migrant and non-migrant workers.

Insecure working conditions can be linked to a lack of institutional support and representation in the workplace, a situation that becomes increasingly precarious when migrant workers are involved. How (migrant) workers experience precarity at their workplace depends on specific labour arrangements and the political regulation of the industry, as well as migrant worker documentation status. 

The Work in Fishing Convention, ILO C188, offers important indicators for minimal working conditions in the sector. 

Reducing precarity and creating better working conditions requires listening to worker experiences, and ensuring greater scope for them shape their working conditions and livelihoods.  Labour organizations that represent and/or advocate for workers can include trade unions, labour NGOs, port-based worker associations, hometown associations, or religious groups.