Technology

Adrian Basar did not want to become a distant-water fisherman. With 22-hour workdays and pay of around 450 dollars per month, it’s not the most glamorous—or fulfilling, or generally safe—job.

But for 10 months out of the year, when he’s out at sea, Basar can’t talk to his siblings, or anyone in his family, because he’s not allowed to use the Wi-Fi on the ship.

“I think the companies that don’t want to put Wi-Fi on their ships pray for things not to be revealed,” Basar said. “There are many companies that don’t want Wi-Fi.”

A coalition between a self-organized Indonesian fishers’ union, a Taiwanese human rights group and multiple global labor organizations is trying to change that.

The “Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights” campaign, which has been organizing since 2023, wants to make Wi-Fi access a standard in the industry, both to help improve working conditions through union organizing and to allow the workers to have contact with other human beings for more than two months per year.