Tabea Meuter This ethnographic study explores the role of solidarity and gender relations within the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS) network, specifically in the context of the palm oil industry. It highlights ethnographic observations and interviews...
The Other Side of Safety: From Corporate Compliance to Worker Advocacy
Stéphane Maminindriana* A Journey of Rethinking Safety Regimes For several years, I worked in the field of Safety Management. I believed in the role, in the systems I upheld, and in the importance of making workplaces safer. My days were filled with audits,...
Creeping in Silence: Summer Postcard with Love
It has been six months since we distributed the postcard at the International Just Transition Conference in November 2023, now this postcard is ready to be delivered to you through this website. These postcards will bring you to TPOLS research findings on safety and...
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...
The Catastrophe that Flows Like Water: The Centrality of Water Issues for a Just Transition
The issue of heavily polluted water in palm oil plantation zones has severely affected local families and workers. Despite water issues appearing like a mundane problem, the communities near these plantations suffer from diseases caused by toxic rivers. According to...
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry – Part 3 (end)
A Just Transition perspective would integrate ecological sustainability and social justice. Photo: Worker’s helmet and fresh fruit bunch, North Sumatra, Indonesia © RAN/OPPUK/Nanang Sujana. Steps towards a Labour Perspective on Just Transition We have seen how...
Just Transition in the Palm Oil Industry – Part 2
The palm oil industry is plagued by land conflicts. Photo: Indigenous farmers block a road to a palm oil plantation and ritually spill pig’s blood in West Kalimantan, Indonesia © Irendra Radjawali Mosaic Landscapes as a Transformative Vision for the Palm Oil Industry...
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,...
Public Letter to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil re: Decision to Lift Stop-Work Order on Golden Veroleum Liberia – Golden Agri-Resources
October 29, 2025 TO: Joseph D’Cruz, Chief Executive Officer, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil CC: Pravin Rajandran, Head of Grievance, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Dear Mr. D’Cruz: This June, the RSPO announced that it was closing post-complaint monitoring of...
Paghimutad: International Learning and Solidarity Mission (ILSM) urges cancellation of Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) granted to Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI)
The Negros Island contingent of the International Learning and Solidarity Mission (ILSM) has urged the government to revoke the Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) granted to Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI) after documenting and confirming cases of...
TPOLS News-Recap: August 2025
Data Collection Method: “TPOLS News-Recap” is intended as a medium for circulating news summaries arising from various TPOLS social platforms and collaborative activities within the TPOLS Network, in two languages (Indonesian and English). Given the...
The People Struggle, the State Defends Capital, the State Silences the People: Call for International Solidarity to End State Violence and Brutality
Once again, the Indonesian state has revealed its loyalty to capital owners rather than its people. This time, a wave of protests by workers, students, and civil society was met with excessive violence, leaving casualties behind. An online motorcycle taxi driver was...
TPOLS News-Recap: June – July 2025
Data Collection Method: “TPOLS News-Recap” is intended as a medium for circulating news summaries arising from various TPOLS social platforms and collaborative activities within the TPOLS Network, in two languages (Indonesian and English). Given the...






