Jamie Padilla

Jamie brings more than 16 years of experience working with producers and workers in agricultural supply chains to identify and address labor and human rights risks. 12 of those 16 years were spent campaigning to expand collective bargaining to a largely migrant and undocumented workforce in US agriculture, where enforcement of labor laws is severely lacking. The challenges around building union density in sectors with high levels of precarity and worker vulnerability led Jamie to explore alternative models for fostering worker voice and agency in the workplace and in the supply chain beyond. This exploration resulted in a set of projects that demonstrate the strong business case to be made for robust worker participation systems. Failing to address recruitment fraud and abuse, workplace cultures steeped in fear, and high turnover undermines not just worker morale and well-being, but also business performance. And none of these issues can be adequately addressed absent meaningful worker engagement. Jamie’s work within her role as FishChoice’s Human Rights Transparency Manager presently focuses on the role of Fishery Improvement Projects in addressing labor and human rights risks in seafood supply chains.