A recent Associated Press investigation has found that Thai Union, owner of Chicken of the Sea in the US, has again been connected to forced labour and horrific working conditions in Thailand.
The investigation, which took place in November, followed trucks transporting shrimp from the Gig Peeling Factory to major Thai exporting companies, and then tracked where the product ended up globally.
It found that migrants, including children, were forced to work for little or no pay peeling shrimp which was bound for the US, Europe, and Asia.
“With each new scandal, so-called global seafood leader Thai Union responds in the narrowest way possible,” said John Hocevar, ocean campaigns director, Greenpeace USA.
“The company does just enough to weather the PR storm while continuing to profit off the backs of the migrant workers forced to work throughout its supply chains.”
He added that these latest allegations are especially disturbing because they suggest Thai Union knew about its forced labour issues and had an employee visiting an implicated factory on a daily basis.
“Clearly Thai Union cannot continue pleading ignorance to the forced labour in its supply chains. It’s going to take more than the bare minimum action to win customers’ trust back,” he said.
Thai Union, which has already seen its seafood supply chains connected to forced labour in separate New York Times and Associated Press investigations, received shrimp from Gig and a second factory that was raided in May where employees were forced to work long hours with no days off.
“No one wants to buy seafood tainted by forced labour, and we know that the issues reach far beyond just shrimp,” Mr Hocevar continued.
“Every single company involved must be held accountable for the hundreds of thousands of people suffering in miserable conditions - from those catching the seafood to the supermarkets selling it.”
