Rights at Work

Rights at Work – Tackling labour exploitation in all economic sectors

Since September 2017, La Strada International coordinates the project Rights at Work – tackling labour exploitation in all economic sectors. This international project, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focuses on addressing labour exploitation, including severe forms of human trafficking and forced labour in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Cooperation partners are SOMO and FairWork in the Netherlands and La Strada Poland, Animus Association in Bulgaria and AidROM in Romania.

The 2 year project includes country visits, national capacity building, exchange and research and aims to strengthen cooperation between trade unions, migrant rights NGOs and counter trafficking NGOs, to improve common identification and referral of cases of labour exploitation. Field visits took place in February 2017 to Poland, in March 2017 to Bulgaria; and in April 2017 to Romania. During these field visits 28 different stakeholders were met in the 3 countries. So far three trainings and four seminars have been organised. During the four trainings participants discussed human trafficking and labour exploitation cases, shared findings and reviewed cooperation and looked at best practises for identification and referral and outreach work.

The next trainings will further promote the developed Resource guide by SOMO and LSI for NGOs to engage the private sector and to ensure that NGOs and trade unions are made aware of possibilities to use international regulations and bodies and complaint mechanisms.

In all three countries, stakeholder working group were established. These are used to identify current gaps and estimate the baseline or existing knowledge and experience and to help the consultants to identify training needs and target groups to be trained.  

The research and dissemination of findings, social media and advocacy work will contribute to awareness-raising of all stakeholders and ensure the provision of up-to-date information on the situation of labour exploitation in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, including advance knowledge of vulnerable sectors and problems, business and human rights frameworks and opportunities at EU and national level for claiming rights. The research includes a desk study and analysis of cases and will be presented at a final conference in the Netherlands, planned for the 2^nd half of June 2018.