Four poultry companies operating in Thailand have been accused of mistreating migrant workers, with claims there are signs of forced labour at production facilities.
Finnwatch and Swedwatch, two NGOs focusing on corporate responsibility, allege staff are having their personal documents confiscated and face “extortionate” recruitment fees.
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The organisations conducted research at six factories belonging to four Thai companies that process broiler meat – Charoen Pokphand Foods, Laemthong, Centaco and Saha Farms Group.
CPF “stood out positively from the rest”, the NGOs said but had “some problems”, including in the area of social security payments. Staff from two of the processor’s sites were interviewed by the NGOs. Workers claimed there were “unlawful” recruitment costs and salary deductions for workers.
In a two-page statement to just-food, CPF said “most of the comments” the NGOs made about the business were “positive” but the company sought to “clarify” other parts of their report, including on social security.
“We do not make any unlawful deductions from salaries. We are required to make a 5% deduction for 90 days before employees are eligible for a social security card,” CPF said. If there was a delay in social security cards being issued to staff, workers were covered under a “pink card scheme”, the company said.
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By GlobalDataIt added: “The report also indicated that some workers were charged recruitment fees by agencies, creating a debt burden. In April we introduced a new foreign labour policy that all workers will be hired directly by us and no fees will be payable by the employee. This policy is still being implemented, so the interviews may have been before implementation.”
Fourteen migrant staff working at Centaco’s factory made a series of allegations, including confiscation of personal documents from their brokers, unlawful recruitment costs and under-age workers.
Swedwatch said the staff had identification cards that showed they were employees of six different brokers or sub-contractors. According to the NGO, Centaco said “managing these subcontractors has been a continuous challenge and learning experience”. In its responses, Centaco insisted it did not charge recruitment fees, while its regulations state it does not employ staff under 18.
However, in its responses to a series of allegations, Centaco said it would take action with sub-contractors if regulations were found to be broken.
The full report – which Swedwatch published in English here – contains responses from the four companies at the centre of the allegations.
