Thai Union hosted a meeting of the ASEAN Corporate Social Responsibility Network on 15 September in Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand, focusing on labor issues.
The ASEAN CSR Network was founded in 2011 and includes representatives from business, government and the nonprofit sector in the ASEAN bloc. The network seeks to facilitate an “exchange of best practices and facilitating peer-to-peer discussions at the regional level.”
At the 15 September meeting, Chan Shue Chung, Thai Union’s head of group human resources, shared his company’s labor policies, covering Thai Union’s business ethics and labor code of conduct and the details of its ethical migrant worker recruitment program. Chung also described the process surrounding the recent formation of an elected welfare committee comprised of Thai Union employees that aims to improve communications between employees and the company.
In addition, Chung gave an overview of Thai Union’s involvement in the United Nations Global Compact, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Emerging Markets.
“It was an honor to have the Ministry of Labor select Thai Union as the site visit for a labor best practices study,” Chung said. “It reflects that Thai Union’s practices and conduct are on the right track and well accepted.”
Chung said he hoped ASEAN CSR Network members in attendance at the meeting could learn lessons from Thai Union’s policy and practices, using them “as a useful stepping stone for the ASEAN CSR Network members to apply within their own home countries.”
