Consultancy

No.: DC/SUV/CONSULT/2022/03
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Application deadline (midnight local time): 28 October 2022

Job ID: 9615
Department: RO - Asia & the Pacific
Organization Unit: CO-Suva
Location: Suva (presence may or may not be required at the duty station)

The ILO is issuing a call for expressions of interest for experts in xxxxxx who wish to be included in a consultancy database currently being compiled by the department of xxxx OR Country office xxxxxx.

Interested consultants are invited to submit their application on-line in order to establish their profile in the database from which they may be considered for consultancy opportunities that may arise. Inclusion in the database does not guarantee a contract with the ILO. Applications will be maintained in the database for a period of xxxxxxxxxxx. You will be contacted directly by the concerned departments/office if preselected.

Candidates also applying for fixed-term employment positions with the ILO are encouraged to respond to this call for expression of interest if they so wish.

The ILO values diversity. We welcome applications from qualified women and men, including those with disabilities. If you are unable to complete our online application form due to a disability, please send an email to ilojobs@ilo.org

Expression of Interest

External consultant to carry out baseline research on trade union representation of Pacific Island nationals working in fishing, and to recommend improvements.

Deadline for expressions of interest: 28 October 2022

Background

An inter-agency project to improve labour conditions in fishing in the Pacific

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is implementing a New Zealand government-funded project to improve labour conditions in fishing in the Pacific. The project is being jointly implemented with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The project will run until the end of 2024.

The ILO is responsible within the project to provide specialist advice and technical support to develop options to establish a fishers’ trade union for Pacific Island nationals working in fishing. The research work to be carried out in the course of this consultancy is intended to gather and analyse baseline data on the role of trade unions in representing Pacific Island nationals working in fishing. The results will serve as the basis for further work, including to propose and to promote enhanced trade union representation in the sector.

Working conditions in fishing

Working conditions on fishing vessels are vastly different from those experienced by workers in other sectors. Workers on fishing vessels face challenges that range from poor working conditions to labour rights violations, through to being victims of human trafficking and forced labour. Work at sea is often characterised by long hours of hard work, high risk, poor living conditions, and low pay. Moreover, fishers are often paid on the basis of a share of the value of fish caught, in whole or in part, by the vessel, instead of receiving a fixed wage. There is no employment contract so they are not adequately protected by legislation when they face harassment and violence in fishing vessels. They are often not “employees” in the conventional sense.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishery sector has been particularly hard hit by the market disruption generated by a significant drop in demand. The continued free movement of all workers in critical occupations, including fishers, is essential, however it is easier said than done. The closure of sales venues, markets, outlets and distribution channels has seen prices and volumes drop substantially. The drop in demand and prices, combined with the vulnerability and complexity of the supply chain, has made the operations of fishing fleets and seafood production lose so much. Consequently, fishers have been forced to stay in port or those at already at sea stay out until they absolutely have to return to shore to off load their catch. This generally declining welfare of fishers and the increasing health and social insecurities meant that attention needs to divert to ensuring rights of fishers and responsibilities of employers are raised today. Trade unions to play an active role in the formulation of priorities, objectives and implementation of policies. They are essential for voicing the needs and priorities of workers at country level, regional and global levels.

The limited reach of public and private labour regulation in fishing

Work in fishing necessarily takes place away from the effective reach of most forms of public regulation of working conditions. This is true of both governmental and inter-governmental schemes of regulation. Moreover, conditions can vary significantly between different vessels, flag States, and types of vessels. There are also significant challenges in fully understanding the working conditions and labour rights violations that occur on fishing vessels due to the lack of data and information.

National labour standards implemented by PICs are rarely applied to those working on fishing vessels. In any case they may not be appropriate or effective in ensuring that working conditions on fishing vessels are safe, decent, and worthwhile. At the same time, fisheries management measures implemented by PICs have historically not addressed working conditions on fishing vessels, either for national or foreign crew.

At the regional level, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) has adopted Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTCs) for Crew Employment Conditions. To date however, few PICs have taken the necessary steps to make the MTCs legally binding on vessels fishing in their waters. At the global level, there are relevant ILO standards. The ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) contains detailed guidance on how to regulate working conditions in the fishing industry. To date, however, no PIC has ratified the convention. The ILO adopted a Protocol to complement the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 2014 (No. 29) from 1930. The Protocol ensures a more comprehensive approach to forced labour by focusing on prevention, protection, and remedy. These issues were not addressed by the Forced Labour Convention in 1930. The Protocol also addresses the need to abolish human trafficking that results in forced labour. Seven PICs that are ILO member States have ratified Convention No. 29,but to date none has ratified the Protocol of 2014

cont'd

There has been a proliferation of initiatives promoted by various private actors to improve responsible business practices by multinational companies and their suppliers. In the fishing sector these have long included measures directed at ensuring sustainability of fishing stocks. In recent times, they have come also to comprehend labour standards and working conditions issues. These include new and enhanced industry codes of conduct, worker organizing, and consumer awareness campaigns. To date however little is known about their effectiveness in securing compliance with applicable labour standards, or improvements in those standards.[1]

The combination of challenges creates a significant gap in the legal, institutional and operational frameworks that should be in place to protect the rights of those working on fishing vessels. The result is a significant “decent work deficit” for those working on fishing vessels. It necessarily increases the need for effective worker voice and representation of those working in fishing.

Specialists’ advice and technical support to develop options to enhance trade union representation of Pacific Island nationals working in fishing.

Scope of Work

The ILO is seeking an external consultant to undertake baseline research on trade union representation of Pacific Island nationals in fishing, and to draw on those findings to propose recommendations for how to enhance it. The work should identify:

The working conditions and income challenges faced by Pacific Island nationals working in fishing, and necessary improvements to them; Trade unions that represent or seek to represent workers in fishing; The strategies of trade unions to recruit members and to represent them, including the issues on which trade unions focus, and the results/outcomes achieved, if any; Opportunities for trade unions to increase their membership among those working in fishing, and strategies by which to achieve this; The impact of governments, and of legal frameworks for forming trade unions and engaging in collective bargaining, on trade union representation of workers in fishing; Readily identifiable communities of workers in fishing; Key issues that could be addressed, and actions that could be taken by trade unions that are near fishing communities; and Subjects that could be developed for advocacy and education campaigns.

The consultant’s report must provide lessons learned to guide trade unions in their future engagements; point out opportunities and challenges and considered ways forward on how best trade unions can exercise a role in the fishing industry. The report should not be longer than 30 pages including references, following the prescribed ILO writing guidelines.

The mapping should identify trade unions that represent workers in fishing, as well as fishery communities which have a large number of fishers and potential to organise them. The consultant should therefore ensure that the information gathered includes at least the following:

Name and membership of the union; Communities with a large number of fishers; Fishery or fisheries covered;

This vacancy is archived.

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