Over 50 workers have died in the past three years alone. Local Indonesian workers are paid a fraction of foreign workers while facing dangerous, even life-threatening situations.

In an effort to attract foreign investments, the Indonesia government has reduced the standards imposed on foreign enterprises, including labor protection, long-term employment contract stipulations, and severance pay obligations, among others.

Local NGOs are raising the concern as foreign companies are taking advantage of the exploitation. Many questions arise. Who are responsible for the deaths? Why are accident investigations so slow? Why aren’t corporations waking up to these tragedies?

Thanks to local NGOs, the much-needed talk has finally begun. On May 15th, a meeting was held in Jakarta: ”How to Prevent Risks In Chinese Invested Industries: Workshop One—Reality Check and Starting the Journey”, involving a national-level trade union, 4 representatives from the headquarters of Chinese corporations, 8 worker representatives, 5 local NGOs, and 4 media groups.

This is the first Corporate Citizenship Multi-stakeholder Close-door Meeting organized by the ESG Cooperation Hub. It is a pivotal milestone in our commitment to addressing grievances and providing remedies in corporate sustainability due diligence, focusing on the mineral supply chain, a strategic industry for both Indonesia and China.

ESG Cooperation Hub's founder, Mr. Xiaobing Wang, attended this closed-door meeting and made efforts to bring together Chinese companies and local NGOs, breaking the ice between the two parties.

Central to our values is the emphasis on the worker-driven approach. It recognizes the importance of addressing human and labor rights violations in global supply chains by considering workers as integral rights-holders. The organization is dedicated to creating an environment for "meaningful stakeholder engagement," ensuring that inputs from all key participants are valued.

A series of roundtable meetings will be held shortly to acknowledge the significance of the International NGO’s impact and support the voices of workers, aiming to ensure that voices are heard and experiences are shared, paving the way for exploring collaborative paths toward the future.

After the meeting, an article related to the event was published by Sanlian Lifeweek, highlighting some of the insights shared during the gathering:《印尼中资园区调查：“渔村变工厂”后，致富神话与命运的重置》