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About us

Our vision

Protecting and defending fishers’ rights.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of fishers’ around the globe experience exploitation and the abuse of their fundamental rights.

The pervasive use of trafficked, slave, forced and bonded labour, together with dangerous working conditions, long hours, and a lack of legal protections for fishers, has left many in need for protection and support and driven many fishers to fight for justice.

Wherever fishers are the victims of any form of abuse – at the hands of exploitative owners, or by ineffective government enforcement – we will built power to protect, defend and improve fishers’ labour and human rights.

We demand fishers have safe, clean and sanitary working conditions, health and safety procedures onboard, equal rights and equal protection, fair wages, and employment contracts in their own language.

What we do

We search out the facts, expose what is happening and organise fishers to put pressure on companies, governments and others to stop these violations.

Justice for Fishers is a campaign run by the International Transport Workers’ Federation to promote respect for the labour and human rights of fishers worldwide. Our global team works alongside our affiliate unions to organise, campaign, lobby and expose abuses, standing in solidarity with workers who come under attack.

We work to advance and defend the interests of fishers’ globally, organising fishers to grow representation, campaigning against companies failing to protect fishers’ rights, pressuring governments to implement, uphold or change laws to protect human rights, and representing fishers in global bodies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Our objectives

Fishing is one of the most challenging and hazardous occupations. The ITF’s primary aim is to ensure that all fishers have decent work free from exploitation.

Breaking that down, these are our core objectives:

About the ITF

The International Transport Workers' Federation is a democratic global union federation of 670 transport workers trade unions representing over 20 million workers in 140 countries working to improve the lives of transport workers globally.