Initially the inhabitants of this village are only farmers of the fields, before the company took their land to be used as oil palm plantations. After the fields were gone, someone demanded the plasma with some friends. Because of the often demanding plasma, the plant manager's assistant offers him a spray supervisor with a hajj of Rp 760,000 / month. He said, while waiting for the plasma garden he made. Also promised if it has been a plasma garden, he can still work to be a foreman. So there is a lot of income in his mind. But for many years he's been waiting for the promised plasma plantation, it's not even there yet.
When categorized, there are two procedures that make villagers Nehas Liah Bing become laborers in oil palm plantations, namely:
Four persons were offered by the company by signing the contract of work (Certificate of Fixed Daily Wage / SKUPT). Usually people who are offered SKUPT by PT Tapian Nadenggan based on long work and have kinship ties with village elite, such as village head, head of hamlet and adat leader.
"We are permanent workers because we have been offered a contract of employment. We have worked for a long time and are very tied to the company. But we feel some irregularities. For example, if we do not work, our salary remains cut even though we have asked for permission. Likewise, if any of our families die, we can not automatically go to work. Salaries are also kept cut. So even the rice given by the company to us for one month as much as 15 kg. if it does not work one day then our rice is cut 1 kg. I have also been sick (infus-opname) in the hospital. Total cost Rp. 240.000, but we ourselves. We are sick from work as a daily sprayer using pesticide poison. There is not a single bit of responsibility from the company. The Company acknowledges, we will bear the cost of having a worker punctured while working. "(47-year-old mother, SKUPT worker)
Ten residents are invited to work by field officers who are also neighbors or relatives of workers. Usually people who are invited to work by the foreman do not have a letter of work agreement with the company, so categorized as casual laborers.
"For a field supervisor heading 12 workers. If there is a shortage of workers then the foreman is looking for kampung kampung. Incidentally our foreman is our villager too, he's easy to find it in this village. This method is not good, because it makes us as workers not directly related to the company and this way it creates hostility between our own fellow with the foreman and makes the company off the hook. "(39-year-old mother, casual laborer).
Long Working in Palm Garden
The 14 workers interviewed in the field, all claim to have worked in oil palm plantations for more than 5 years. In fact, 2 women have been working since the inclusion of oil companies to their village in 1998. But until now there has been no significant change of fate.
"I have 7 years working as a foreman in this oil palm plantation. But the more days my life gets harder, it's never going to be enough for life. It's impossible to be safe. I'm an official foreman with two strips on my work shirt. Salary Rp 970.000, - / month. Child 3 with wife 1 who worked as SKUPT. If Overtime I can get Rp 1.1 - 1.2 million. But the price of cooking oil alone is Rp 16.000 / liter here. Rice and side dishes must be purchased. Can we still make our children school? If only I could, it would be better to just forest this Nehas village again. We do not have to buy anything. We think richer time "