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First Fair Work Monitor among workers in palm oil 

Fair Work Monitor Reveals Living Wage Gaps in Indonesia’s Palm Oil Supply Chain

For the first time, CNV Internationaal has conducted the Fair Work Monitor among palm oil workers in Indonesia, in collaboration with trade union HUKATAN and the palm oil union network JAPBUSI. This worker-driven initiative provides critical insights into whether palm oil workers earn wages that allow them to live with dignity, security, and stability.

Between May and July 2025, a total of 1,072 workers participated in the survey across the provinces of Jambi (Bungo and Tanjung Jabung Barat) and East Kalimantan (Berau and Kutai Timur). Their responses offer valuable data on wages, living conditions, and labour rights in the palm oil sector.

A Participatory Tool for Fair Work in the Palm Oil Industry

 

The Fair Work Monitor is a participatory tool developed by CNV Internationaal to assess labour conditions in the palm oil supply chain from the workers’ own perspective. 

It empowers workers, strengthens collective action, and supports social dialogue, collective bargaining, and due diligence processes—especially relevant for companies committed to RSPO certification and ethical sourcing.

Discover key findings 

Across both provinces, bonuses, extra payments, and in-kind benefits—such as company-provided housing—are essential for survival. 

Losing a job often means losing a home, especially for workers without formal contracts. 

CNV Internationaal and the Fair Impact Programme

In the Fair Impact Programme, CNV Internationaal provides companies with the tools to go beyond compliance and create impact in their supply chains. One of these tools is the Fair Work Monitor. 

Through the Fair Work Monitor, now active for four years in Cambodia, we collaborate with six major national trade union partners to collect direct input from workers about wages, working conditions, and their lived realities and prepare annual wage reports. In 2025, around 2,900 workers across 98 garment factories participated in the survey. 

This work supports fair wage-setting processes and helps build safer and better working conditions. This makes The Fair Work Monitor an invaluable tool for doing due diligence: by identifying the most pressing labour risks in garment factories, it gives brands a clear, data-driven starting point to prioritize and act where it matters most. 

 

Through the Fair Impact Programme we offer: 

  • Insight and advice how to work on improved wages, working conditions, social dialogue, and grievance mechanisms at your suppliers
  • Support for independent worker representation at your suppliers to form or strengthen independent trade unions
  • Joint action plans to solve these key issues at supplier factories, including using worker-driven monitoring and social dialogue
  • Training for union representatives and management on topics such as social dialogue, freedom of association, OSH, gender equality and human rights due diligence to build their capacity and help solve workplace issues constructively

 

Just send a message to internationaal@cnv.nl to so we can contact you to explore possibilities

 

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Publication date 03 11 2025