News Release
US Department of Labor announces $5M funding opportunity to strengthen decent work, address labor violations in South American fishing industries
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of up to $5 million in grant funding aimed at strengthening decent work for laborers in South America’s fishing industries.
Administered by the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, the funding opportunity will support efforts to strengthen mechanisms to address labor violations associated with illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and increase action taken by workers and civil society to address labor violations in the industry. The opportunity will also help enable worker organizations, local port authorities and the private sector in addressing these labor violations.
The funding will seek to address violations of the right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; strengthen prohibitions against discrimination at work; eliminate forced and child labor; and promote acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work and occupational safety and health.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing threatens the food security, economic security, and physical security of these communities by enabling illicit actors to control resources historically accessible to local communities. IUU fishing improperly yields an estimated 26 million tons of fish per year, valued at approximately $23 billion U.S. dollars, which is roughly equivalent to 15 percent of the recorded annual world fisheries’ production.
