"外国人実習生の「人権侵害」　スターバックスやファミマの社会的責任とは？", 26 Nov 2020

[Japanese-to-English translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.]

NPO POSSE—for which I [Haruki Konno] serve as Executive Director—and our partner, General Support Union, have been working on a case where Cambodian technical trainees had their passports and residency cards confiscated and were forcibly repatriated. Their host site was Nisshin Seifun Group’s subsidiary, Tokatsu Foods, while the supervising organization [which connects trainees to host institutions] was Zenkoku Chushou Jigyou Kyoudou Kumi Ai (全国中小事業協同組合). Finally, the company that recruited the trainees was JCI Co., Ltd.

…Over four years, the Cambodian trainees worked with an interpreter to successfully seek collective bargaining with Tokatsu Foods, the supervising organization, and the recruitment company. Through discussions, the supervising organization and JCI admitted to forcibly repatriating the workers by confiscating their passports and residency cards against their will….

…Although the supervising organization admitted to violating the trainees’ rights, Tokatsu Foods continues to evade responsibility by claiming that they were not complicit…

…Among Tokatsu’s customers are major companies, such as Starbucks and FamilyMart. The Cambodian trainees who were forcibly repatriated made sandwiches for Starbucks and lunch boxes for FamilyMart…

The international community is increasingly recognizing that buyers should be held responsible for their supplier’s human rights abuses. However, in response to the Cambodian trainees’ request for collective bargaining, FamilyMart said, “While Tokatsu Foods is our supplier, we can’t address the specifics of its employment practices.” Starbucks, on the other hand, has not responded at all…