Transnational Palm and Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS) Network is urging the Indonesian government to immediately declare the forest and land fires (Karhutla) in Kalimantan and Sumatra a national disaster and to end impunity for corporations damaging the environment....
Joint Press Release: WILDFIRES, FLOODS, AND DROUGHTS
WILDFIRES, FLOODS, AND DROUGHTS: Impacts of Corporate Crime, State Denial, and Labor Safety Neglect in Kalimantan and Sumatra Bogor, September 2, 2026 – The wildfires that have once again struck several regions in Kalimantan and Sumatra are not merely seasonal...
Beyond Health and Safety: The Struggle of the Alienated Body and the Emergence of New Forms of Worker Organization on Palm Oil Plantation
Since the colonial era, health has been an integral part of labor control, as seen on palm oil plantations. Today, these agri-capitalist factories, operating in multinational contexts, continue to benefit from this mechanism of control, degrading workers’ bodies...
Beyond the Red Circle: Notes on a Palm Oil Plantation Union Meeting in Indonesia
In September last year, I attended a group discussion with workers organised by a branch of SERBUK (People’s Labour Union) at a palm oil plantation company in the Sambas Regency of West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. It was the first gathering of union members...
Labour Rights Violation in the Global Supply Chain of the Palm Oil Industry
Joint Press Conference: Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity Network The Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS) received reports of alleged violations of basic labour rights in palm oil plantations. Based on reports from the union members, we found there...
Discussion summary: union organizing in the palm oil plantations
Palm oil plantation has been widely reported for practising various forms of human rights abuses. Given its characteristics of being located in remote area with social isolation in a massive land size, plantation is a ‘suitable’ place for harboring illegal practice of...
We condemn the act of expulsion and dismissal by PT. CITRA AGRO KENCANA towards palm oil workers and their families
Without a clear basis, the palm oil company PT. Citra Agro Kencana unilaterally fired 37 workers. Following this decision is the forced expulsion of workers and their families from their homes in the plantation area in the middle of the night. Until now, there has...
The condition of palm oil workers amidst Covid-19 pandemic
Summary of Discussion The discussion on “The condition of palm oil workers amidst Covid-19 pandemic” was held virtually on 26 July 2020. The discussion was attended by organization members of TPOLS network. This activity aims to obtain detailed information on...
Recent Post
Sambas Declaration for Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry
Introduction On 28-29th November 2023, an international conference on “Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry” was held in Sambas, West Kalimantan in Indonesia. The conference was attended by 140 participants, mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia,...
More Than Just Natural Disasters: TPOLS Network Declares Forest and Land Fires an Ecological Crime and Destruction
Transnational Palm and Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS) Network is urging the Indonesian government to immediately declare the forest and land fires (Karhutla) in Kalimantan and Sumatra a national disaster and to end impunity for corporations damaging the environment....
Joint Press Release: WILDFIRES, FLOODS, AND DROUGHTS
WILDFIRES, FLOODS, AND DROUGHTS: Impacts of Corporate Crime, State Denial, and Labor Safety Neglect in Kalimantan and Sumatra Bogor, September 2, 2026 – The wildfires that have once again struck several regions in Kalimantan and Sumatra are not merely seasonal...
Learning Circle Notes: Organizing Strategies and the Struggle of Rural Workers’ Unions in Acre, Brazil
Friday, June 19, 2026 — An online discussion titled “Labor, Land, and Ecology Struggle: Organizing Strategies and the Struggle of Extractive Reserves in Acre, Brazil” was held through a collaboration between Sawit Wxmen Educational Group (SWEG), Sawit Watch (SW),...
Report on the Public Discussion: Military-Based Violence and Land Grabbing in Negros Occidental, The Philippines
Saturday, June 6, 2026 — The increasingly widespread military-based violence and land grabbing in the Southeast Asian region have sparked deep concern among various civil society groups. In response to this crisis, an online public discussion titled “Military-Based...
Press Release of the PERISAI (People’s Union Against Imperialism) Alliance
SAVE INDONESIA, IMPROVE THE PEOPLE'S LIVES! Today, the Indonesian people are facing a battered economic fate. The failure of fiscal policy is the most determining factor in the current situation. Nevertheless, US neoliberalism is the root cause of the fiscal...






