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),...
Red Earth, Green Lies: Oil Palm, Debt, and Socio-Ecological Calamity
“Sometimes,” Baso said quietly, reminiscing about his untended oil palm plot now overtaken by weeds, “this grant feels no different than being forced into debt, especially if it’s your first time planting.” For four years, he has helped manage a seventy-two-hectare...
Banned Pesticides Continue to Flood Indonesia
Every year, companies from the European Union (EU), such as Germany, Belgium, and Spain, export hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous pesticides to countries outside Europe. Many of the toxic substances in these pesticides are banned in EU countries themselves...
Solidarity as a Cultural Practice: An Ethnography of Just Transition Within an International Labour Movement in the Palm Oil Industry*
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...
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,...
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...
TPOLS News-Recap: March-April 2026
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...
MAY DAY 2026: Collective Statement of TPOLS Network
MAY DAY 2026: Collective Statement of Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS) Network THE NATIONAL BUDGET IS NOT FOR MILITARY EXPANSION, WAR FUNDING, OR AGRARIAN MONOPOLY Since 2025, the TPOLS Network has strongly criticized the Indonesian government's...






