“There will be no way for us to be able to solve every single problem of migrant workers here in Thailand. The only way we can do it, we need to have them to speak up about the problem. We need to have them form their own organization, representing themselves.”
Sawit Kaewwan, the secretary general of the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) in Thailand, has mobilized the Thai trade union movement to support migrant workers, especially those at risk from human trafficking.
At the time this podcast was recorded, Sawit and 12 of his colleagues were facing criminal charges for having protested government corruption and neglect that contributed to railway accidents. Many believe they were targeted because they were building a broader and stronger labor movement. Read here how the unions’ offers of support for the government’s antihuman trafficking efforts were shunned. Sawit and his colleagues went above and beyond to diversify Thailand’s labor movement and that included standing up for and helping to organize migrant workers and supporting the founding of the Migrant Worker Rights Network and the Fisher Rights Network. Both organizations are featured on episodes of the Labor Link Podcast.
About The Labor Link Podcast
The Labor Link Podcast supports workers' rights in global supply chains by sharing personal stories and perspectives of the brave individuals organizing the workers who make our stuff. The Labor Link Podcast is hosted by Judy Gearhart of American University’s Accountability Research Center. The first season was produced by Evan Matthew Papp from Empathy Media Lab with support from the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Contact Judy Gearhart for media inquiries at gearhart@american.edu.
About the Host of The Labor Link Podcast
Judy Gearhart is a Research Professor with the Accountability Research Center at American University’s School of International Service. She co-teaches a class on Human Rights and the Politics of Inequality at Columbia University, has served as the executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum and the programs director for Social Accountability International. She got her start as an organizer in Mexico and working for UNICEF and the ILO in Honduras.
About the Accountability Research Center
The Accountability Research Center (ARC) is based in American University’s School of International Service. ARC bridges research and frontline perspectives to learn from ideas, institutions, and actors that advance strategies to improve public accountability.
Through extensive dialogue with partners and collaborators, ARC co-designs exploratory research that is relevant for their strategies and can contribute to international thinking about how change happens.