Women Oil Palm Workers Need Special Protection in Climate Crisis

JAMBI, KOMPAS.com — Puji (44) began to run out of energy when the sun was overhead. Her eyes began to fog and her mouth felt dry, a sign of thirst.

The female palm oil laborer from Renah Mendaluh Subdistrict, West Tanjung Jabung Regency, Jambi sat down for a moment to chug a bottle of water. From a distance, the foreman or field supervisor shouted at her, asking her to return to work.

“It's not time to rest, why are you sitting? I want to stop working tomorrow,” said Puji, imitating the foreman's voice at his house in September 2024.

Puji, not his real name, works on fertilizing replanted oil palm plantations. It covers thousands of hectares. All the trees were uprooted. The newly planted oil palm seedlings were not even a year old. There were no bushes or small trees to shelter from the heat.

After being reprimanded by the foreman, he hurriedly tore open a sack of fertilizer. Dust flew toward Puji's face. The smell was pungent. She accidentally inhaled it and her chest immediately tightened.

At first, she relaxed because she had half an hour to rest. A stern warning from the foreman forced her to half run up and down the steep hill. Even though he was breathing heavily, he deftly sowed fertilizer with his bare hands.

Shortly after inhaling the fertilizer dust, Puji coughed. At first, she thought it was a normal cough because it was summer. After a week, the cough got worse.

“I still go to the doctor. I have to be examined once a week. I have been coughing for a month after inhaling the fertilizer,” she said.

While coughing, he was forced to continue working. If she takes more than 12 days off in a month, the company will prepare a dismissal letter for Puji. Meanwhile, her doctor advised her to quit her job as a casual laborer.

“I wanted to cry when I heard the doctor's advice. I have three small children, if I don't work, how can they eat,” said the woman, who is widowed after her husband died a year ago.

She has spent millions on lung examinations, injections, medicine and transportation back and forth, an hour's drive to the doctor's clinic. Meanwhile, Puji is only paid Rp125,000 per day when she works.

With a salary below the provincial minimum wage (UMP) in a month, the workload is getting heavier and heavier. In the span of seven hours, her target is to fertilize 2-3 blocks. The area is almost two hectares.

Demand company protection

Puji works with the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals. Working outdoors and baking in the sun all day made her want to quit. She has worked for seven years, but has never been made a permanent employee.

“We have asked the company to appoint us as employees. So that our fate is certain, but it has never been granted,” she said.

Puji's anxiety also occurred in Marosebo District, Muarojambi Regency. Dozens of workers, both men and women, came to the PT PMG office on Tuesday (27/8/2024).

They demanded that the company immediately pay off salaries that had been delayed for almost a month and provide Health and Employment Social Security Organizing Agency (BPJS) facilities.

MD, a resident of Jambitulo Village, said that the company had paid the salaries of all workers according to the demands of the action. However, they have not yet registered BPJS Health.

Work risks are high due to exposure to dangerous chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides. Not all workers who work in extreme heat, he said, have a strong immune system.

“If you have BPJS Health, you can get free medical treatment. We don't know, there are many occupational risks,” said MD.

There is a ten-year working period, if you have BPJS Employment, you can later enjoy pension money. Moreover, if they become permanent employees, almost all laborers hope.

Meanwhile, NAS palm oil workers in Nipah Panjang District, Tanjung Jabung Timur, Regency are also struggling to demand rights from the company. They need protection from the government and the company.

She said that the company had promised to build a clinic around the work area, so that workers who were sick would get free medical treatment. However, until now it has not materialized.

“He said it had been proposed to the superiors (company leaders). A clinic for employees, but until now there has not been one,” she said.

She said that many female workers here have suffered work accidents. There was a case of almost blind eyes, because they were splashed with pesticide liquid. They also cough up blood and suffer from headaches every time they work.

Not only that, during the dry season and fires most workers experience acute respiratory infections. The symptoms are sore throat, fever and cough. This risk is fairly high, because almost every dry season there are fires.

She also hopes that the company will pay attention to the health of the workers and not set excessive working hours without adequate rest. “The working hours should not be too long. We can take a break,” she said.

Her friend NAS, another female palm oil worker, ST, feels exploited by the company. With the excuse that her wage has increased by more than Rp121,000 per day, her work targets are getting more and more demanding.

She has to fertilize hundreds of oil palms from morning to evening. The foreman does not give him a moment to rest, no matter the heat. At the peak of the heat, the break time is only 30 minutes for eating, drinking and praying.

The daily target for each job is about five rows of trees multiplied by 27 rows, totaling about 135 palms. Sometimes if it is not time to go home, but the work has already been completed, then add another 20-30 trunks.

“One hectare one day. Sometimes more depending on the foreman. Strong or not strong, we have to meet the target,” said the woman who is almost half a century old.

ST has been working for a dozen years. The company has never appointed her as a permanent employee. She was denied the right to receive health care facilities from the company.

The heavy pressure of work made her fall ill. Borrowing money from relatives or neighbors saved her when she had to go to the hospital for treatment. The need for children's education has confiscated savings during work.

The sun, she said, is getting hotter. From 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., it feels like boiling. One month of drought feels like a year. This is what makes women workers physically weak and eventually get sick.

Extreme heat record

The heatstroke that made many workers sick occurred because of the climate crisis. The average daily temperature continues to rise, even breaking the record of the last thirty years with a temperature of 37 degrees. This figure was recorded by the Sultan Thaha Meteorological Station in Jambi.

Data from the Jambi Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMGK) shows climate change. The change in the average temperature increase of the decade cycle (2010-2020) reached 0.185 degrees Celsius.

Global warming has made the Jambi region warmer. In 1985, the average daily maximum temperature was recorded at 32.1 degrees Celsius. Then in 1990 the figure rose to 32.5 degrees. Then in 1995 it was at 32.8 degrees. While in 2000 it dropped to 32.7 degrees. Furthermore, it fell again at 32.6 degrees in 2005.

After experiencing this decline, the figure soared at 33 in 2010, then increased sharply to 35.2 in 2015 and continued to rise to 35.8 in 2020. Finally, in 2024 the figure reached 37 degrees Celsius.

“The increase in extreme conditions over the past 30 years is evidence of climate change,” said Nabilatul Fikroh from BMKG Jambi.

With the extreme conditions, the BMKG constantly warns the government and companies to be vigilant. Not only heat, but high waves, strong winds and the threat of flooding due to high rain intensity.

Personal protective equipment

Head of the Labor Supervision and Industrial Relations Division of the Jambi Province Manpower and Transmigration Office, Dodi Hariyanto Parmin, said that workers who work in remote areas or outside the company office have many risks of work accidents.

Dodi encouraged laborers not to ignore the climate crisis. When working outdoors during peak heat, workers should take adequate rest and drink plenty of water.

Companies should provide workers with personal protective equipment as needed, especially those that prevent health problems due to the climate crisis.

The government urges companies to protect the rights of workers, to get adequate rest time. Then provide incentives to productive workers for the welfare of workers.

“All workers in the company have the right to be protected, regardless of their status, from permanent employees to casual daily laborers,” said Dodi.

The company's obligations are regulated in Labor Law Number 13 of 2003. This regulation regulates occupational safety and health to protect workers.

Normative protection of workers' rights is binding and must be fulfilled, such as living wages, time off, overtime, and health and employment BPJS.

All violations have sanctions ranging from administrative to criminal. Workers have the right to legal certainty regarding their status to become permanent employees. So that they do not always become casual daily laborers.

“We, the government, suggest that the status of casual workers should be immediately elevated to permanent employees,” he said.

To protect workers' rights, the government has given warnings to dozens of companies. Admittedly, Dodi said, not all companies have complied with the rules.

Relevant to the findings of Beranda Perempuan, a non-profit organization that focuses on women's issues, more than 90 percent of women workers receive wages below the UMP. In working, they are not equipped with personal protective equipment for occupational safety and health.

Ida Zubaida, Director of Beranda Perempuan, said that women workers must receive special protection from the government and companies. Economic conditions leave them with little choice.

With the climate crisis, the government and companies must actively educate laborers. They work outdoors 7-8 hours a day with exposure to intense heat, increasing health risks.

Principles of equality and justice

Chairperson of the Media Relations Compartment of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) Fenny Sofyan said that the issue of labor welfare, safety and health issues for women workers is the focus of the organization.

Gapki is committed to providing education related to the protection of women workers, said Fenny, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2021, Gapki in collaboration with CNV Internationaal and the Federation of Hukatan Trade Unions issued guidelines for the protection of women workers in oil palm plantations. All Gapki member companies follow the guidelines to protect women workers.

“There are 8 main points in the guidelines. The point is to create an inclusive, safe and comfortable environment for women workers,” he said.

The guidelines have become a foothold for Gapki members, starting with the training of member company personnel. So that the guidelines for the protection of women workers can be effectively implemented in the work environment.

Fenny admitted that the socialization of the guidelines has been running throughout Indonesia, involving the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Trade Unions and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

So far, Gapki has encouraged member companies to ensure the fulfillment of health facilities and fulfillment, especially women workers. They want to ensure the provision of labor rights in accordance with laws and regulations, including daily casual workers.

To realize the principles of equality and justice, continued Fenny, Gapki collaborated with Earthworm Indonesia to develop guidelines for the use of daily workers in oil palm plantations.

The hope, she said, is to become a guide for companies to reduce business risks, reputation, business sustainability and fulfillment of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification requirements.

Based on data from the Jambi Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), in 2022 the export value of palm oil reached 427 million dollars, the following year it fell to 329 million dollars. The destination countries for palm oil exports from Jambi are Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and the United States.

According to 2023 data, the area of palm oil plantations in Jambi reached almost 1.2 million hectares and produced more than 2.7 million tons of palm oil.

Jason Kai Wei Lee, Director of Heat Resilience and Performance Center, National University of Singapore in the webinar said the government must immediately formulate policies to protect outdoor workers.

The Singapore government has now been enforcing hot weather laws, since last year. This rule was made to prevent the adverse effects of the climate crisis. Companies must comply.

He cited the application of technology to detect dangerous temperatures, namely Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). Every company is obliged to provide rest periods when the temperature exceeds 32 degrees Celsius.

The weather has changed, a number of countries in Southeast Asia have felt the heat wave. So there is no reason for companies to refuse outdoor worker rest rules.

Jason's research on outdoor worker productivity during peak heat shows that the more workers take breaks during hot weather, the more productive they are.

Worker productivity experienced a downward trend when working in the heat. In addition, heat stress has a serious impact on worker safety and health.

In the long term, workers can develop serious and debilitating chronic illnesses, affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory and kidney systems.

Women palm oil workers work for small salaries, but with high health risks. They need protection from the government and companies, especially when working outdoors amid the climate crisis.