Published April 6, 2026 by Chavi Keeney Nana, ICCR’s Director of Equitable Global Supply Chains, original article here
On March 13, 2026, ICCR staff, investors from Oxfam, Trillium, and Northstar Asset Management, as well as a representative from the Accountability Research Center (ARC) at American University, attended a site visit to the Port of New Bedford, which is the largest commercial fishing port in the United States. The site visit was hosted by Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores (CCT), a labor and community organization that supports workers in the seafood processing industry at the Port. It was also supported by Justice at Work, a legal organization for worker rights and labor organizers.
During the site visit, CCT members spoke to investor andNGO participants about the conditions in the seafood processing plants. One focus was on the stark discrepancies between protections offered those employed directly through the company and the comparable lack thereof for those employed through staffing agencies. Staffing agencies dominate this market because many of the workers at the Port are undocumented; staffing agencies are willing to turn a blind eye to immigration status, while companies are less willing to do so.
ICCR investors spoke about the role that investors can play in supporting worker rights initiatives and ARC spoke about its research on working conditions in the seafood sector. Finally, CCT members presented the Code of Conduct that they are asking companies in the Port of New Bedford to sign. Although investor members of ICCR’s equitable global supply chain working group have been focused on abuses in global seafood supply chains, many of the companies we are engaging also source from New Bedford. We will continue to explore ways to support CCT’s work.
