4 Indonesians Sue San Diego’s Bumble Bee Seafood, Alleging Forced Labor ...Middle East

Bumble Bee Seafood was sued Wednesday by four Indonesian men who allege horrific treatment and forced labor aboard boats that supply the San Diego-based tuna company.

Citing violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, the men represented by Greenpeace and and a lawyer from San Diego are seeking unspecified monetary damages in San Diego federal court.

Their 48-page complaint, calling for a jury trial, also wants Bumble Bee to ensure pay and improved working conditions for fishers, including 10 minimum rest hours in any 24-hour period.

The suit also demands that each vessel provide “free, accessible and secure WiFi to allow fishers to access grievance mechanisms, authorities or other sources of assistance.”

Liz Conant, a spokeswoman for Bumble Bee, told Times of San Diego via email that the seafood company owned by Taiwan-based FCF Co. Ltd  had “just became aware of the filing and will not be commenting on pending litigation.”

Parent company FCF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs are Akhmad, Angga (both with no last names), Muhammad Sahrudin and Muhammad Syafi’i.

Some of their allegations:

Akhmad was subjected to forced labor on the Run Da 5, part of the “trusted network” of vessels from which Bumble Bee sources its tuna.

“The captain beat Akhmad, including with a metal hook, too many times to count. The captain also failed to provide medical attention when Akhmad was seriously injured – a rope broke, sending a load of fish onto Akhmad, gashing his leg to the bone. Although he was bleeding so much his boot filled with blood, the captain initially insisted Akhmad keep working.”

Akhmad wasn’t released until his wife contacted local police, an Indonesian labor union and the International Organization for Migration, the suit says.

Angga worked on the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 878, where he says he was stabbed with a needle.

“When he returned home [after a work stoppage], he learned that his family had never received the promised pay for his many months of forced labor at sea,” the suit says.

Syafi’i, who worked on the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 211, says he received no medical care after suffering horrific burns in an accident “but was instead left to die.”

“When he did not die,” the suit says, “the captain insisted he go back to work or pay a fee to eat. Syafi’i was not permitted to leave the ship despite making multiple requests to leave so he could seek medical care, resulting in permanent injuries.”

And Sahrudin — also on the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 878 — says he was beaten so many times, he cannot recall the exact number.

“He was also lashed on his back, as were other fishers,” the suit says. “The captain ignored their requests to leave, although supply vessels came and went, until the crew joined together and refused to work if they were not repatriated.”

Greenpeace and other groups have been targeting Bumble Bee for many years, including in March 2021, when Greenpeace USA says it delivered (and later emailed) a petition containing almost 27,000 signatures calling for Bumble Bee to upgrade its human-rights policy for tuna vessels to reflect international standards and to protect fishers from human rights abuses.

But Wednesday’s complaint appears to be the first in which Bumble Bee was taken to court over the alleged fisher abuses.

Agnieszka Fryszman, partner at Cohen Milstein and chair of its Human Rights practice, said in a statement: “These men were looking for good jobs so they could provide for their families and build a future. Instead, they allege, they were trapped — isolated at sea, beaten with metal hooks, not getting enough food, working around the clock — and facing financial penalties if they tried to leave.

“The complaint outlines how each of them asked to be released, but were kept on board against their will – and in some cases didn’t take home a single penny for their labor.”

Fryszman added:

“As part of its effort to stamp out human trafficking and forced labor, U.S. law authorizes survivors to bring claims in the United States against the persons who benefitted from those abuses, recognizing that forced labor overseas harms U.S. companies that obey the law. Our clients are seeking justice not only for themselves but to implement changes that will protect other fishers, including men at sea right now on those same boats.”

In a news release, Greenpeace said Bumble Bee has been aware of reports of forced labor in its supply chain.

“When Greenpeace USA emailed a link to one such report directly to Bumble Bee’s then-CEO Chris Lischewski, he replied, ‘As for the report on Taiwan, I have printed it but have not yet taken the time to read it. It is not high on my priority list,’” the release (and lawsuit) says.

(In June 2020, Lischewski was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined $100,000  for his leadership role in a three-year antitrust conspiracy to fix prices of canned tuna.)

According to the new action, Bumble Bee settled a lawsuit in March 2023 filed in District of Columbia Superior Court alleging that Bumble Bee violated the D.C. Consumers Protection Procedures Act by claiming that its tuna was produced with “fair and responsible working conditions” “when, in fact, Bumble Bee sells tuna products caught by laborers who are subjected to inhuman conditions.”

Bumble Bee agreeed to remove the statements “fair and safe supply chain” and “fair and responsible working conditions” from its marketing materials and to refrain from making such claims for a period of 10 years, the suit says.

Besides Fryszman and Nicholas Jacques of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, other lawyers helping in the suit include Paul Hoffman and downtown San Diego attorney Helen Zeldes of Shonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP and Asia Arminio of Greenpeace Inc.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 4 Indonesians Sue San Diego’s Bumble Bee Seafood, Alleging Forced Labor )

Also on site :

• Oil prices up after reports of 3 ships on fire in Gulf of Oman near the strait of Hormuz
• Ron Taylor Passes Away
• Barbra Streisand, 83, Makes Spicy Confession About This Hollywood Icon