"Trade unions empower workers, which ultimately leads to higher productivity"

One afternoon, on arrival at Kuala Mandor B in Kubu Raya district, West Kalimantan, Rabuansyah (44) is waiting in the workers' housing complex of PT Bumi Pratama Khatulistiwa (BPK), one of the suppliers of PT Wilmar Cahaya Indonesia Tbk, a multinational company that produces vegetable and special oils for the food industry and general trade.

Rabuansyah walks to the third house on the housing estate, a small house with a new coat of grey paint. "This is company housing that we converted into our secretariat," he explains. "We asked permission to tear down the front room to create a larger meeting room. Seated on the floor, Rabuansyah talks about the trade union Serikat Buruh Kebun Bersatu (SBKB) that he and his colleagues set up in 2019.

Compliance with rights and obligations

It all started when he had to take care of his wife, who developed a heart condition. Her medical claims were denied, so he had to pay for medical expenses himself. It suddenly transpired that the health insurance did not cover her illness. "At the time, many employee entitlements were not granted transparently by the company. Only those who knew were given the required information," he says. Rabuansyah specialises in electricity and knew little about workers' rights at the time.

Workers had to arrange everything themselves. Eventually, Rabuansyah and his colleagues came across an organization advocating for the rights of palm oil workers. They decided to set up a workers' union in early 2019. "We aim to ensure compliance with workers' rights and obligations. Previously, many workers with Casual Daily Worker (CDW) status did not receive health insurance and could only get medical care at the company clinic. Now, all workers are permanent employees who can be referred to external hospitals," he says. Three leading hospitals provide medical services to the company, in addition to government hospitals.

Deceased employee

The union fights not only for better health, but also for other rights, such as transport and personal protective equipment (PPE).

The union's first personal plea was for a night watchman with CDW status. The man was chronically ill and needed a referral to visit a hospital. Due to the worker's lack of information, his family paid all his medical expenses until he eventually died.

The company only provided a compensation of 1 million Indonesian rupiahs (53 euros), even though he had worked for the company for seven years. "Together with a supportive organization, we brought the matter to the attention of the company's central management and a consultant in Singapore. After the meeting, they admitted that they had not received enough information. One week later, a team came from Jakarta to check the situation in the house of the deceased employee. Wilmar ended up giving the employee's family 71 million rupiah (nearly 4,000 euros)," Rabuansyah said.

Many leaks

The money was used to pay off the debt incurred for the medical treatment of the deceased, and to work on the house. Previously, the house had been in poor condition. There were many leaks. During the talks, it rained hard. Union members experienced what the residents of the house felt as they tried to sit in a spot where they would not get wet. "Now that the house of the deceased is in good condition, we feel relieved. This is invaluable," Rabuansyah said with tears in his eyes.

Higher productivity

Maman Rohman (49), originally from West Java, is the new chairman of the Serikat Buruh Kebun Bersatu (SBKB). It often happens that little information is exchanged between the parent company and the supplying plantation, he says. "In terms of regulations, the business group is committed to meeting the needs of workers, but the supplying plantation is sometimes negligent," he says. And plantations frequently consider trade union activity as a form of resistance. It takes time for them to understand that unions make workers stronger, which ultimately leads to higher productivity," he explains.

According to the union, the success of the company also has consequences for the welfare of workers. The union was repeatedly confronted with a management that did not follow applicable rules. Following advocacy efforts, the company complied by replacing the management.

A joint collective bargaining agenda

The organization continues to raise awareness about workers' rights, so workers receive adequate protection, and dismissals do not occur arbitrarily. After five years, the trade union counts 378 members, 243 men and 70 women, supported by 21 union officials. The union is currently working on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). "We have been in talks on the collective agreement since September last year. Originally, it is the company that set the agenda. But in these collective agreement negotiations, we are determining the themes together," Maman explained. "Like the fact that the company will take care of the commute."

More than seven hours a day

Besides transport, other important topics for this collective agreement are personal protective equipment (PPE) and the working hours of truck drivers. In the past, workers had to pay for their PPE themselves, including helmets, gloves and boots. Nowadays, these are provided by the company, but if they are lost, the amount is deducted from workers' wages. The union disagrees with this. In addition, the working hours of truck drivers transporting palm oil are still an issue. They are paid according to legal working hours. "In practice, the drivers often work more than seven hours a day. They have to wait for the fruit to be processed before it can be transported. This should also count as working hours," Maman argues. All these meaningful issues are now on the table for the collective bargaining negotiations.

Text and photography: Aseanty Phalavi