Amnesty International has documented ongoing child labor violations on Indonesia's Palm Oil plantations. Even though the palm oil industry is working to decrease its impact on people and the environment, AI says many companies are not joining in that effort.
One of the biggest offenders is Wilmar International, according to a report AI conducted, which included interviewing over a hundred workers, some of them children. The report found Wilmar "guilty of numerous violations including forced labor, child labor, gender discrimination and worker exploitation."
AI found that children often did "the most brutal work on palm oil plantations," as they helped their parents "meet the near impossible quotas set by Wilmar's suppliers."
Considering AI's claim that nine palm oil companies enjoyed a "combined revenue of $325 billion" in 2015 alone, it is an outrage that plantation workers are earning less than minimum wage.
The US Department of Labor says that "children in Indonesia are engaged in the worst forms of child labor," however Indonesia's "Ministry of Labor lacks the financial resources and personnel necessary to adequately enforce child labor laws throughout the country...." Therefore it is up to Wilmar and its competitors to end their abusive quotas and piece rates, which AI says "ensnares laborers in work that pays below the country's minimum wage."
Sign this petition to demand that Wilmar end their abusive labor practices in Indonesia including those that force children to work.
To Wilmar International CEO, Kuok Khoon Hong,
According to Amnesty International, your earnings from 2015 are an outrage compared to the "pittance" earned by plantation workers, some of them children.
The US Department of Labor has documented the crisis of child labor in Indonesia, and Amnesty International has named your company as the worst of all the offenders of workers' protections.
The US Department of Labor also says on its website that Indonesia's "Ministry of Labor lacks the financial resources and personnel necessary to adequately enforce child labor laws throughout the country..." Therefore it is your responsibility to ensure that adult workers do not have to rely on the help of their children to meet your quotas and that all workers are treated fairly and paid a living wage.
I, and those supporting this petition, demand that you end your abusive labor practices on palm oil plantations in Indonesia.
