’Just go to Carrefour!’ (‘Ke Carrefour Aja Deh!’) is a marketing slogan of Carrefour in Indonesia. Offering wholesale goods with the lure of low prices, Carrefour has kept expanding its business in Indonesia. The presence of retail hypermarkets has surely raised many issues such as the marginalization of traditional markets and worker rights issues. Most of the Carrefour outlets are located in the basement areas of shopping malls, next to the parking lot. The outlet at Ratu Plaza alone has been the site of five occupational accidents. Carrefour Ratu Plaza was opened in 2000; this 7600 meter-square outlet in South Jakarta was started with US$5 million investment. The outlet itself is located in the basement area with poor ventilation. The first occupational accident on Ratu Plaza branch took place in November 2002. Forty-five workers were hospitalized because of excessive inhalation of carbon monoxide.

A similar accident re-occurred in December that year which sent 20 workers to be hospitalized. The accident did not stop there. The biggest accident took place in May 2007 when 119 people including shoppers were hospitalized. Then again in December 2007, 19 workers were hospitalized because of gas leak. The parking lot where the outlet is located was sealed by City Property Management as they argued that the accident was caused by power generator defect. Yet, in April, the area was sealed off as they removed the defected generator. The fifth accident took place in May 2008. The management argued that the accident happened because the state-owned electricity company, PLN, cut off the power supply the whole afternoon.

Environmental officials together with police investigated the accident in May 2007, and stated that 119 people in that accident had inhaled excessive carbon monoxide. They also offered Carrefour and the building management to find out the real source of the carbon monoxide. Nevertheless, the management from both Carrefour and the building rejected the idea. As cited by Indonesian media, the city environmental management board reported that on May 2007, the level of CO gas in Carrefour Ratu Plaza had reached 120 particles per million (ppm). A human being can only tolerate 23 ppm. The fifth accident which took place in May 2008 again has shown the ignorance of Carrefour management. The case of Carrefour Ratu Plaza exposed by the mass media was only the tip of the iceberg of occupational accidents taking place in Indonesia. There are other thousands of occupational accidents taking place in Indonesia every year.

 Currently there are 20 Carrefour Indonesia Trade Unions (Serkiat Pekerja Carrefour Indonesia, or SPCI) in Jakarta and Bandung. SPCI was set up in early 2000 when Carrefour bought Continent hypermarket. SPCI itself now has become affiliated to Congress of Indonesia Unions Alliance (KASBI) since 2007, as KASBI started organizing workers in the retail sector. An ex-worker at Carrefour Ratu Plaza says that previously the occupational accidents taking place at Carrefour Ratu Plaza was confined to being regarded as only a workplace issue. Yet now, the occupational accident in Ratu Plaza has triggered the occupational accidents issue to be considered as a common issue of unions at national level.
   The first accident took place in November 2002 during the fasting month. At that time, not many workers had joined SPCI. The management only promised to fix certain equipment but then the same accident took place again in the next month. Then the union asked for management clarification regarding the case. The second accident invited Jakarta government officials’ attention. The result was that the government urged Carrefour and building managements to seal Carrefour for three months. In the period given, the management was obliged to take some action to fix the problem. When the third accident came, it was like a whistle blower for all workers.
   When the third accident occurred in May 2007, there was a black-out in Ratu Plaza shopping mall. Later the management blamed the National Electricity Power Company PLN for this accident as the generator in the building did not work properly. SPCI Ratu Plaza, in 2007, confronted the management about this accident. The union demanded that the management of Carrefour fix the facilities such as alarms, proper ventilation and exhausts. Yet, the management argued that the accident was solely because of defected generator and the solution to the accident that sent 119 workers and consumers to hospital was to change the generator. Ironically, the same accident occurred again in December 2007. Again, Carrefour Ratu Plaza was sealed.
   The seal was removed in April 2008. Then again, a gas leak accident occurred in the following month (May 2008) sending 27 workers to the hospital. This triggered the rage of the union, which demanded that the government—in this case, the Manpower Department, OSH experts, and police investigate this accident. Union also demanded that the management be responsible for workers’ safety and job security. The result of this fifth accident was the closure of Carrefour Ratu Plaza outlet. The workers from Ratu Plaza outlet got re-employed at other outlets.

 In August 2008, SPCI participated in the OSH training facilitated by AMRC in Bogor, Indonesia. Halian, an ex-worker from Carrefour Ratu Plaza outlet said that the training benefited the workers in terms of how to tackle OSH issues as workers’ issues. So far, the participants of the training have socialized the issues on OSH rights to workers at Carrefour outlets where they work. Nevertheless, there must be steps taken in anticipation of similar occupational accidents that might take place at other Carrefour outlets. Parto, an organizer from KASBI, said that at present OSH issues are no longer confined to work sites only. They have become a common issue in the workers’ movement. However, this case of SPCI in particular reflects a union experience a negotiation process demanding their OSH rights—more than just the traditional bargaining demands regarding wages or working hours.

Five accidents that occurred at Carrefour Ratu Plaza indeed, have raised the awareness of workers to demand their OSH rights. The accident also encouraged workers to strengthen the union to fight for their rights. Indonesia is a country with a high rate of occupational accidents. In 2006-2007, the number of occupational accidents taking place was 92,700. This number is considered superficial as it was the number reported by Jamsostek (state-owned social insurance company). Meanwhile, out of 30 million workers in Indonesia working in the formal sector excluding contract and casual workers, only 7.5 million are covered by Jamsostek.

 Indonesia as a developing country once was dubbed by ILO as the country with the worst working safety in Southeast Asia. An OSH law was issued in Indonesia in 1970. Yet, the law only threatens a three-month jail sentence or a maximum fine of 100,000 IDR (US$10), and this is complemented by a joint decree by five ministers which regulates highly risky work sites. As cliché as it may sound, the lack of law enforcement is always the main problem. Moreover, the stipulated law does not show true government intention to protect workers. Regarding hazardous material, Indonesia is still a favorite destination for chemical and poisonous material export from developed countries. 

 Within the dynamics of worker movement in Indonesia, OSH issues have almost never come up as national level issues. Social insurance as a basic right of workers is often brought up at national level protests. Yet occupational accidents, diseases and safety have not been treated as priorities among national level issues. There are some experiences worth recording, however. In July 2006, workers working at PT Eka Swastya in Tangerang using asbestos to produce shoe brakes, set up an independent union at their workplace. Initially, the union had two programmes: one fighting to gain permanent status for the workers, and another collecting money to support their friends who had experienced many diseases such as bleeding cough, incurable cough and skin rash. Other examples of struggle includes women workers in industrial zones who are fightings for their maternal and reproductive rights.

Independent and progressive unions in Indonesia have treated these OSH issues as individual grievances that need to be advocated. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, it requires a further leap to incorporate OSH issues at a higher level, i.e. where workers see they are entitled to know the impact of production process upon their bodies. This should embody the struggle for OSH rights. Surely, it takes time. Unions in Indonesia can also learn from their past experiences, as in the past very few unions had women committees within unions. Nowadays almost all progressive unions have set up a women’s committee to deal with issues faced by women workers. Likewise, then, there must also be a process leading to the setting up of OSH committees within unions. The rights of workers to know what happen to their bodies during and after production process are not less important than other labour issues.

SPCI workers participate in an OSH training                    Source: KASBI