Unions allege labor violations in ADB-funded road project in Indonesia
The Asian Labor Network on IFIs (ALNI) in Indonesia has alleged serious violations of core labor standards in the implementation of an ADB-funded road renovation project in West Kalimantan (Jakarta). ALNI-Indonesia conducted a survey among workers in July and August 2010, key results of which were published in the Jakarta Post dated 9 September 2010.
The ADB-supported project is the Road Rehabilitation 2, a US$151-million loan approved in September 2005, and due for completion in end-2010. According to ALNI, the project is being implemented by state-owned PT Waskita Karya and China Engineering Consultants (CECI), and commenced in April 2008 as part of the Trans-Kalimantan Highway project. [For more info about the project, see:
ALNI survey highlights. The survey found that an estimated 1,000 construction workers were not protected under the national social security program (Jamsostek), their wages below standard (including overtime pay), their accommodation not proper (only tents), working without safety equipment, and with neither collective agreements nor a forum to fight for the improvement of poor labor conditions. According to the Jakarta Post article:
-More than 1,000 workers, mostly from Java, have been employed for almost two years without decent remuneration or protection.
-Almost all workers have been working without safety equipment and have not been insured under Jamsostek.
-Workers had been living in barracks and tents without electricity or sanitation for almost 18 months. The barracks were built along the road and accommodated up to 15 workers in a 16 square-meter space.
-Workers bathe in dirty ponds every day and have no sleeping facilities. Every barrack has a woman cook and the ladies have no separate accommodations in the barracks or the tents.
-Almost 70 percent of workers were paid between Rp 1.3 million and Rp 3.5 million a month. Only heavy equipment operators received Rp 3.5 million per month. Thirty percent of the workers were paid from Rp 400,000 to Rp 700,000 a month. (The province's monthly minimum wage is Rp 850,000.)
-Stonemasons in Lumut village, Sanggau, preferred salary increases over safety equipment such as helmets and boots, and frequently worked 12 hours a day. According to workers, it is better to work overtime than to stay in their barracks; overtime was paid at Rp 3,000 per hour.
September 30 meeting. Representatives from ADB, ALNI, the Executing Agency/EA (Ministry of Public Works) and the project’s contractor (Waskita Karya) met September 22 at the ADB Resident Mission in Jakarta to discuss the survey findings. According to colleagues from ALNI, a tit-for-tat ensued:
-ADB acknowledged that it did not review labor issues in the project’s bidding documents and only focused on labor unit price, but insisted that the contract requires all workers must be insured.
-EA/Waskita also claimed all workers had been insured under Jamsostek, presenting insurance documents which, however, did not list workers’ names, only the number of workers under the project.
-ALNI said the workers themselves informed surveyors that they were not insured. ALNI further insisted the workers were not aware of their insurance, never received any information from foremen or contractor that they were insured, nor read any announcement on sign boards about them being insured. There were no sign boards in the construction site; Waskita said they put up a sign board and banner but took them down after some time. ADB acknowledged this is an input for improvement in future.
-ADB, EA/Waskita clarified that not more than 300 workers were employed by the project. ALNI said that though there may only be 300 workers currently, the survey respondents said that since the beginning of the project, the turnover has been high and approximately 1,000 workers had been employed. ALN said there is a strong indication that those workers were treated similarly, in terms of insurance.
-ADB and EA/Waskita denied that workers earn below normative wages, saying that majority of the workers come from Java island and the contractor paid their transportation costs and some money to their family back home. ALNI explained that many workers said they earn below the normative wages (only 400 to 700 thousand Rupiahs). ALNI said that contractor and foremen may be making deductions.
-ADB said that Waskita pays workers 5,000 rupiahs overtime pay, but ALNI stood firm that the first-hand information from workers was 4,000 rupiahs. Waskita never checked from workers how much they earn. Even with 5,000 rupiahs, ALNI calculated that the overtime pay would still not comply with normative provision and that this is a violation of workers’ rights.
-ADB and Waskita claimed that they provide base camps with beds, generator sets, communal room, water supply, etc, and even rented some houses for the workers. Tents are there for workers to take short break. ALNI said they found workers sleeping in a poor tent, and some others under trees.
-ADB requested ALNI to clarify the article in the Jakarta Post and Sinar Harapan. ALNI rejected this and suggested ADB can observe their right to respond to the article by contacting the media.
-Before the meeting ended, ALNI invited ADB, Public Works and Waskita to attend its public forum on September 28 and 29 as speakers and not as participants.
Regrets. In the end, ADB informed ALNI it had “decided not to participate in the (public) discussion and other activities related to the survey.” In a letter dated September 27, Indonesia Country Director JAMES NUGENT said that the Bank regrets ALNI’s decision to neither formally contact ADB or the Public Works Ministry, and the publication of the survey findings “without cross-checking the information.” Mr Nugent added that the Bank views these actions as being “unconstructive.” The ADB has stated thus:
“We have serious concerns that ADB would not be able to participate effectively at the public discussion as ALNI does not provide (the Bank) any opportunity to review the survey findings prior to the meeting. Furthermore, we do not see any commitment from ALNI to consider making any further clarification, or acknowledging any mistakes in the survey.”
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