How to improve labour conditions in Indonesian palm oil plantations 2018

Janneke Bosman started working for the Sen Foundation in 2009 and has supported us in several ways: as a researcher, general support and coordinator. Since 2009, she has been dedicated to work for and to support the Foundation.

In 2016 she started working at CNV Internationaal, a foundation that supports trade unions in development countries. There, she is currently responsible for Indonesia. During one of their current programs, CNV Internationaal supports the trade unions in the palm oil sector. Earlier this year in January, Janneke together with CNV Internationaal travelled to Indonesia to produce a movie which shows how a process of continuous, constructive social dialogue between company and trade union is leading to improvements of labour conditions of workers at palm oil plantations and mills.

During one of their current programs, CNV Internationaal supports the trade unions in the palm oil sector. They support these trade unions to raise awareness among palm oil companies on the improvement of the implementation labour rights and to motivate other companies to follow best practices.

Palm oil is used a lot in all kind of products we use daily: pizza, peanut butter, shampoo, make-up, cookies, chocolate, and many more products.

Still, there are many problems concerning working conditions in the palm oil sector:

– Workers are forced to work unpaid overtime in order to reach unrealistic production targets

– These high targets have motivated workers to bring their wives and children to work, thus giving rise to child labour

– Other rights violations found in the field include union busting, no employment contracts, inadequate equipment provisions and inadequate medical services

Several companies now cooperate with CNV Internationaal and improve the labour conditions for workers in the palm oil sector, among which is Wilmar, world’s largest palm oil company. In January of this year Janneke together with CNV Internationaal travelled to Indonesia to produce a movie which shows what this cooperation looks like.

We are happy to announce that the movie is finalised and that you can now see the results in the attached video.