A senior US official in charge of international worker rights is in Taiwan to support the rights of workers in the fishing industry and protections for migrant workers.
Thea Lee, deputy undersecretary for international labor affairs at the US Department of Labor, arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a five-day stay until Friday, a travel announcement released online by the US Bureau of International Labor Affairs said.
Lee met with Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) at the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei, the bureau wrote on X.
Photo: Screen grab from the X account of the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs
“Today, @ILAB_DOL head Thea Lee met with Taiwan’s ministry of labor where she emphasized the U.S. government’s prioritization of workers’ rights globally, calling for Taiwan’s commitment to improve labor rights compliance,” the bureau wrote, adding an #AIT hashtag for the American Institute in Taiwan and three photographs.
The AIT confirmed Lee’s visit.
“During her visit, Deputy Undersecretary Lee will meet with Taiwan interlocutors to discuss a range of labor issues of mutual importance, including workers’ rights, migrant workers’ protections, the fishing sector and international labor standards,” an AIT spokesperson said.
The Fisheries Agency said that Lee is expected to visit the nation’s major ports and harbors, but her itinerary is a “closed-door format.”
The Department of Labor included fish caught by Taiwanese operations on its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2020 and 2022 after several investigations and reports by international non-governmental organizations said there was systemic forced labor in Taiwan’s fishing industry.
The Fisheries Agency in 2022 amended the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members (境外僱用非我國籍船員許可及管理辦法), increasing the minimum monthly salary for migrant fishers to US$550 from US$450.
The amendment also requires employers of migrant fishers to increase their life insurance coverage to NT$1.5 million (US$47,513), from NT$1 million, and to set up an employees’ hotline, the agency said.
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