fsc’s chain of custody certification · tracking the wood through the whole supply chain (e.g....

University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Department of Geosciences Geography Unit

FSC’s Chain of Custody Certification: the missing link to a decent work and decent living

through Forest Certification? A case study in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Master Thesis

Frida Zettergren Place de Notre-Dame 6

1700 Fribourg Switzerland

Supervised by Dr. Olivier Ejderyan Autumn semester 2011

Abstract

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Abstract Keywords; Chain of Custody Certification, Decent Work, Eco-labelling, Forest Certification, Forest Stewardship Council, Occupational Safety and Health, Sustainable Forest Management, Trade Unions. Forest certification systems emerged after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, as an instrument to hinder deforestation and forest degradation, especially in tropical forests. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), launched in 1993 by environmental NGOs, is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which promotes responsible management of the world’s forests by means of certification and labelling of forest products. Eco-labelling is a way to encourage consumers to differentiate between more and less socially and environmentally sustainable products, services, facilities or practises. In the past, such environmental labelling schemes were hampered by companies which created their own eco-labels, and in a surreptitious manner, passed their products off as sounder than their competitors. To avoid such problems with transparency, companies who set out to attain an FSC certification consent to have their company’s performances assessed and regularly audited in an independent, FSC-accredited, third-party verification. If the certification is successful, FSC’s label shows that the company meets FSC’s standards. In the beginning, FSC’s exertions were in principal environmentally focused. Today, FSC has broadened its standards to include a range of social aspects, addressing, for example, tenure rights for indigenous people and labour conditions for workers. However, these social aspects are only covered in FSC’s Forest Management certification (of the forest), whilst the second certification, the Chain of Custody, refers to the generic process of tracking the wood through the whole supply chain (e.g. plywood factories, sawmills) after it leaves the forest, until it reaches the consumers. Hence, the Chain of Custody certification lacks social criteria stipulating the minimum acceptable labour standards inside, for instance, FSC certified wood producing factories. This thesis discusses the impacts that FSC’s certifications have had on different stakeholders’ working conditions, social development and if FSC’s certifications have lead to “a Decent Work’. An ethnographic field study was conducted at an FSC certified company in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Different groups of workers, covered by the two certifications, and indigenous communises were interviewed. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews allowed different stakeholders’ perspectives of the impact FSC’s certifications to be examined. The results show a difference in impact depending on the workers work contract (permanent, contractor or a sub-contract worker) for both certifications. Sub-contractors and contract workers lacked social protection and the right to social dialogue, something that the permanent workforce had. Occupational Safety and Health standards were found to be worryingly low for most workers. Whilst some respondents identified some improvements in labour conditions after the company received the certification (minimum salaries, work hour regulations), the cause was identified as down to government regulations. The indigenous

Abstract

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communities, however, reported improvements in their economical situation, social welfare and in conflict resolution and identified it as due to the certification. It is argued in this thesis that unless social standards are implemented throughout the whole certification chain, nothing is linking decent working practices, from the forest, through the factories, until the wood reaches the consumers. Therefore, timber can be sold by an FSC certified company, where some workers lack basic safety equipment, social protection and decent working conditions.

Table of Contents

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Table of Contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................ V ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................ VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................................................. XI

1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... - 1 -

1.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE ..................................................................................................................... - 3 - 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.3 RESEARCH SCOPE........................................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH .......................................................................................................... - 6 -

2. CERTIFICATION & ECO-LABELLING .................................................................................................................... - 9 -

2.1 A CHALLENGING BEGINNING ............................................................................................................ - 9 - 2.1.1 Ethical trade ................................................................................................................... - 10 - 2.1.2 Conventional and alternative certification ..................................................................... - 11 -

2.2 CERTIFICATION TO PROMOTE ETHICAL CONSUMPTION? ....................................................................... - 12 - 2.2.1 The chicken or the egg? .................................................................................................. - 15 - 2.2.2 Certification to fill (in) the gap? ...................................................................................... - 16 - 2.2.3 Social and environmental aspects for sustainability ...................................................... - 17 -

2.3 FOREST CERTIFICATION: AN ENVIRONMENTAL START ........................................................................... - 17 - 2.3.1 To certify or not: why is it a still a question in forestry? ................................................. - 18 - 2.3.2 Happily ever after? Keeping an eye on working conditions ............................................ - 19 -

2.4 POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND FOREST CERTIFICATION ................................................................................ - 20 - 3. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................................ - 25 -

3.1 FIELD STUDY LOCATION: KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA ............................................................................ - 25 - 3.1.1 Indonesia’s forestry, problems and challenges .............................................................. - 26 - 3.1.2 A brief overview of deforestation in Kalimantan ............................................................ - 27 -

3.2 FIELD STUDY METHODS ................................................................................................................. - 29 - 3.3 SAMPLING METHODS AND THE SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS ................................................................ - 31 - 3.4 DILEMMAS AND CONSIDERATIONS IN THE FIELD ................................................................................. - 33 - 3.5 THE CODING OF THE FIELD DATA ..................................................................................................... - 34 -

4. FOREST CERTIFICATION AND SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................................................ - 37 -

4.1 DEFORESTATION AND THE LINK TO SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY ................................................................... - 37 - 4.1.1 Sustainable Forest Management and Certification ........................................................ - 39 - 4.1.2 The case of the Forest Stewardship Council ................................................................... - 40 -

4.1.2.1 Forest Management Certification ..................................................................................... - 43 - 4.1.2.2 Chain of Custody Certification .......................................................................................... - 45 - 4.1.2.3 Exclusion of social standards in the Chain of Custody ................................................. - 46 - 4.1.2.4 Raising the social bar in FSC’s Chain of Custody ......................................................... - 47 -

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5. TRADE UNIONS: THE PURSUIT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE ................................................................................... - 49 - 5.1 CURRENT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT ...................................................................................... - 49 - 5.2 TRADE UNIONS; ROLE AND DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................... - 50 -

5.2.1 Trade unions facing the future ....................................................................................... - 51 - 5.2.2 FSC, assisting more traditonal union approches ............................................................ - 52 -

5.3 IMPACTS OF GLOBALISATION IN THE FORESTRY INDUSTRY .................................................................... - 53 - 5.3.1 Outsourcing of work in the forestry sector..................................................................... - 54 - 5.3.2 Safety and health at work ............................................................................................. - 55 -

5.4 DECENT WORK AND ILO’S CORE CONVENTIONS ................................................................................ - 56 - 5.4.1 ILO Conventions and Occupational Safety and Health ................................................... - 56 -

5.4.1.1 ILO’s Core Conventions ratified by Indonesia ................................................................ - 57 - 5.4.2 Decent work ................................................................................................................... - 58 -

5.4.2.1 Pillar one: decent employment and income opportunities ............................................ - 59 - 5.4.2.2 Pillar two: guaranteeing rights at work for the workeforce ............................................ - 59 - 5.4.2.3 Pillar three: extending social protection and job security .............................................. - 59 - 5.4.2.4 Pillar four: promoting social dialogue ............................................................................... - 60 -

6. EFFECTS AND IMPACTS: COC CERTIFICATION .............................................................................................. - 63 -

6.1 EMPLOYMENT SECURITY ............................................................................................................... - 63 - 6.1.1 Employment stability and perception of work quality ................................................... - 63 - 6.1.2 Improvements in employment security? ........................................................................ - 68 -

6.2 RIGHTS AT WORK ........................................................................................................................ - 68 - 6.2.1 Provided work training ................................................................................................... - 68 - 6.2.2 Occupational safety and health at work ........................................................................ - 69 - 6.2.3 Improvements in workers’ rights? .................................................................................. - 73 -

6.3 SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES ......................................................................... - 73 - 6.3.1 Social security coverage ................................................................................................. - 73 - 6.3.2 Socio-economic development for workers ..................................................................... - 75 -

6.3.2.1 Salary, pension and holiday pay ...................................................................................... - 75 - 6.3.2.2 Economic development ..................................................................................................... - 76 - 6.3.2.3 Time off work for family and social life ............................................................................ - 77 -

6.3.3 Improvements in social protection? ............................................................................... - 78 - 6.4 RIGHT TO SOCIAL DIALOGUE .......................................................................................................... - 78 -

6.4.1 Workers’ representation and appeals ............................................................................ - 79 - 6.4.2 Improvements in right to social dialogue? ..................................................................... - 80 -

6.5 ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION AND KNOWLEDGE .............................................................................. - 81 - 6.5.1 Certification knowledge ................................................................................................. - 81 -

7. EFFECTS AND IMPACTS: FM CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................. - 85 -

7.1 INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LIVING INSIDE THE CONCESSION ......................................................................... - 85 - 7.1.1 Context setting ............................................................................................................... - 85 -

7.1.1.1 Traditional living vs. contemporary developments ......................................................... - 86 - 7.1.2 Recent socioeconomic development .............................................................................. - 86 -

7.1.2.1 The commencement of FSC and changes in dialogue ................................................. - 87 - 7.1.2.2 Improvements in living standards and social wellbeing ................................................ - 88 - 7.1.2.3 Employment opportunities and safety ............................................................................. - 89 - 7.1.2.4 Environmental perception and certification knowledge ................................................. - 90 -

7.2 FOREST WORKERS WORKING IN THE FOREST...................................................................................... - 90 - 7.2.1 The commencement of FSC and conflict resolution ....................................................... - 91 - 7.2.2 Employment prospects, safety and social dialogue ....................................................... - 91 -

7.3 ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION ....................................................................................................... - 93 - 7.3.1 Certification knowledge ................................................................................................. - 93 -

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8. KAHUTINDO’S EXPERIENCE OF CERTIFICATION .......................................................................................... - 95 - 8.1 KAHUTINDO’S TAKE...................................................................................................................... - 95 - 8.2 SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND WORKERS’ REPRESENTATION ........................................................................... - 96 -

8.2.1 Company relationship and collaboration ....................................................................... - 96 - 8.2.2 Rights to trade union membership ................................................................................. - 98 - 8.2.3 Three trade unions, three strong wills ............................................................................ - 99 -

8.3 WORKERS’ RIGHTS ..................................................................................................................... - 100 - 8.3.1 Identified issues of work stability ................................................................................. - 100 - 8.3.2 Disputes in workers’ rights ........................................................................................... - 101 -

8.4 SOCIAL PROTECTION ................................................................................................................... - 102 - 8.4.1 Accidents and safety at the work place ........................................................................ - 102 - 8.4.2 Social protection and health insurance ........................................................................ - 104 - 8.4.3 Improvements in work regulations and social development ........................................ - 104 -

8.5 INVOLVEMENT IN FSC CERTIFICATION ............................................................................................ - 105 - 9. DECENT WORK THROUGH FSC CERTIFICATION? ....................................................................................... - 109 -

9.1 ONE COMPANY, TWO CERTIFICATIONS, MANY PROBLEMS .................................................................. - 109 - 9.1.1 Prevailing working and socioeconomic situation for workers ...................................... - 110 -

9.1.1.1 Employment stability ........................................................................................................ - 110 - 9.1.1.2 Rights at work ................................................................................................................... - 112 - 9.1.1.3 Social protection and socio-economic development ................................................... - 114 - 9.1.1.4 Social dialogue ................................................................................................................. - 115 -

9.1.2 FSC and Indigenous communities, a success story ....................................................... - 116 - 9.1.3 Assessment of the reasons behind the changes ........................................................... - 118 -

9.2 WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION, AN ISSUE OF EXCLUSION ......................................................................... - 119 - 9.3 WRAPPING IT UP; THE TRADE UNION’S IMPRESSION.......................................................................... - 121 -

9.3.1 Environmental governance and social government? ................................................... - 122 - 9.3.2 Issues to address in social dialogue .............................................................................. - 123 - 9.3.3 The missed opportunity; safety and health on decline ................................................. - 124 -

10. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................................................ - 127 -

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................................................... APPENDICES I: FSC’S 10 PRINCIPLES & CRITERIA FOR FOREST STEWARDSHIP ............................................ I APPENDICES II: SMARTWOOD STANDARDS ............................................................................................................... II APPENDICES III: POLICY FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF ORGANIZATIONS WITH FSC ................................... III APPENDICES IV: FSC STANDARDS FOR CHAIN OF CUSTODY CERTIFICATION ............................................ IV

Abbreviations & Acronyms

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Abbreviations & Acronyms BP British Petroleum BWI Building and Wood Workers’ International C ILO Convention CIFOR Centre for International Forestry Research CoC Chain of Custody Certification DAFF Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation ETI Ethical Trading Initiative Factory Plymill factory FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade FM Forest Management Certification FSC Forest Stewardship Council GS The Swedish Union of Forestry, Wood and Graphical Workers ITUC Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Unions Rights ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements ILO International Labour Organisation LEI Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia MSC Marine Stewardship Council MTCC Malaysia Timber Certification Council NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OSH Occupational Safety and Health P&C Principles & Criteria PEFC Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

Abbreviations & Acronyms

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REDD Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation REDD+ Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in

developing countries RSPO Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil SCS Scientific Certification Systems SFM Sustainable Forest Management TWU Ghana’s Timber and Woodworkers Union UN United Nations UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Union Trade Union WCFSD World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development WCED World Commission on Environment and Development WRM World Rainforest Movement WHO World Health Organisation WWF World Wide Fund

Acknowledgements

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Acknowledgements Dear reader. It might not come as a complete surprise to you to read that this thesis is the results of many hours of hard labour. Hours, that would have been useless, not even possible, without the assistance and advice from some very knowledgeable individuals. I would like to show my greatest gratitude towards three trade unions for their assistance and support during this thesis. Firstly, I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the national Indonesian trade union Kahutindo. Especially Sister Rulitha Wijayaningdyah and Brother (president) Khoirul Anam at Kahutindo for help, support and assistance in all the organisational issues. I would further like to thank all of the plant union officers at the study location for the warm welcoming and for their contribution to the study. Without their time and perseverance with me, this study would never have taken place. Meg, my translator and devoted cultural advisor, receives a thank you for all his blood, toil, tears and sweat. Secondly, I would like to direct a special thank you to Mr. Apolinar “Dong” Tolentino, at the global federation of Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI). Dong, BWI’s regional representative for the Asia Pacific region, assisted and shared all his knowledge on trade unions and forest certification with me. Thirdly, I am very much indebted to the national trade union GS (The Swedish Union of Forestry, Wood and Graphical Workers) and its International secretary, Yngve Daoson. Yngve arranged the initial contacts with both BWI and Kahutindo, and without his support and experience on this subject, I would never have had the opportunity to conduct this study. However, I want to stress that all findings and conclusions remains those of the writer and that none of the three trade unions obstructed or interfered in anyway in this study. Further, I would like to thank Marion Karmann at the Forest Stewardship Council, for her valuable input and guidance on FSC’s scope and social aspects of forest certifications. In addition, I am most grateful to mamma, farmor and farfar and other relatives and friends, for their support and encouragements. Etienne Rosset receives much praise for his assiduous assistance. Last but by no means least, I would like to express my gratitude towards my supervisor, Dr. Olivier Ejderyan at the University of Fribourg. All his valuable knowledge and feedback throughout the whole research period made this thesis possible. Thank you for all meetings and correspondence! Furthermore, I would like to take the opportunity to stress, that all errors of facts, or interpretation, remains the reasonability of the researcher. Hence, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of BWI, GS, Kahutindo or FSC. For further questions or comments, please feel free to contact me on [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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1. Introduction The loss and degradation of forests has become a much-debated and prominent issue, of popular concern and political debate, in the last decades. Forest certification systems emerged after the 1992 Rio conference (UNCED), as an instrument to hinder deforestation and forest degradation, especially in tropical forests (Overdevest, 2010). While Nellman (2007) estimated that 73 to 88 percent of Indonesia’s timber arrives from illegal harvests, others (see for example HRW 2009, Chatham House 2008), estimated the illegal trade to between 40 to 55 percent. In Indonesia, home to the world’s third largest rainforest and renowned worldwide for its high biodiversity (FAO, 2002) accredited forest certification systems operate due to the country’s fast deforestation rate, valuable ecosystem and the presence of indigenous communities (FSC 2011a, GreenBlue 2011).

Forest certification systems, initiated in the early 1990s, and characteristically supported by environmental Non-governmental organisations (NGO), focused mainly on ecological aspects. Today, as vibrant debates flourish concerning companies’ roles as societal and environmental guardians, forest certification is described as a ‘soft policy’ tool for social change, addressing for example concerns over tenure rights and labour conditions in forestry (Rametsteiner & Simula 2003, Taylor 2005). One of the principal ideas behind wood labelling (or eco-labelling), is that it allows environmentally and socially conscious consumers to identify products promoting environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests (FSC, 2011c).

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is one of the world’s leading environmental governance systems (Overdevest 2010, FSC 2011a). FSC started in 1993, and developed certifications with different purposes, and which includes, to varying degrees, social criteria. In FSC’s Forest Management (FM) certification (which concerns the certification of the forest or the plantation), 10 principles and criteria (P&C) assist FSC accredited certification bodies to evaluate companies striving to become certified. Several of these 10 P&C, focus on social aspects for permanent staff, contract workers and indigenous people. Principle I, for example, requires companies to follow all national laws and Core ILO conventions, whilst principle IV ensures employment opportunities and other benefits for local communities (FSC 2011b, Kruedener 2000:16). FSC’s Chain of Custody certification (CoC) differs in scope from the Forest Management certification. For instance, in a CoC certification, the 10 P&C are not used to evaluate companies’ practises and furthermore, labour conditions and social aspects are not considered. Instead, FSC’s CoC certification refers to the generic process of tracking the labelled wood throughout the whole production chain, and thus acts as an

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assurance of an environmentally sustainable wood source (Overdevest, 2010). As a rule, an FSC accredited certification body will “…have an eye on maintaining minimum social, ecological and economical standards…to exclude worst cases of mismanagement…” (Karmann & Smith, 2009:18).

Trade Unions and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are strongly promoting decent, safe and productive work for both genders (Ghai, 2002). The notion of decent work is an important concept for the unions’ work, as it highlights four elements regarding employment. These elements include employment opportunities, social protection, worker’s rights and the right to social dialogue.

Unions, as well as NGOs, have long questioned the absence of ILO’s Core conventions in FSC’s CoC certification. The global trade union Builders and Woodworkers International (BWI) is therefore promoting an inclusion of ILO’s Core conventions and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in forest certification systems. This would, in BWI’s opinion, firstly, denote certified companies’ dedication to follow minimum labour standards, and secondly, force certified companies to implement the standards throughout the whole production chain (BWI, 2011).

FSC is at present extending its social commitments. Corporations seeking to obtain FSC’s CoC certificate (since October 2011) need to demonstrate that it is not, directly or indirectly, violating human rights in forest operations. Further, the company needs to confirm that it is not in violation with any of ILO’s Core conventions and show a commitment in Occupational Safety and Health. Herein lies a novel study area, as the scope of social inclusion and/or exclusion of certifications has obtained little attention in research up to date.

Kahutindo, an Indonesian trade union affiliated to BWI, organises around 100 000 workers in the wood, forestry, plantation, pulp and paper sectors. Kahutindo states that sustainable forestry and ILO’s decent work agenda are two essential parts to safeguard long-lasting, positive improvements in the quality, and quantity, of employment (Kahutindo, 2011). Kahutindo and BWI have facilitated a field study in Borneo where one of their plant unions has a strong union membership and where a company holds FSC’s certifications. The certified company, referred to hereafter as ‘the company’ to ensure anonymity for the respondents, had both an FSC FM certificate for their forest concession area, and an FSC CoC certificate for the company’s plywood factory (hereafter referred to as the plymill or the factory).

With the presented background in mind, questions are increasingly being asked how FSC is influencing social outcomes, such as enhancement of labour standards and social development by means of certification. Not enough research is devoted to analysing and specifying the outcomes certification policies are likely to produce, i.e. in an ideal setting, before certification and with a possible follow-through design (Karmann & Smith, 2009:25).

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This study therefore contributes to the question through an in-depth exploration of whether different stakeholders have in fact benefited from the implementation, and in that case, in what way. The collaboration with Kahutindo enables different types of people to express their opinion about FSC certification. It is paramount to inculde the view of the different stakeholders involved, such as the company’s permanent staff and contractors, as well as villages in the forest concession area as it is these people who predominantly experience the effects implemented by FSC’s ‘soft policy’ system.

Herein lies a unique research opportunity to study and document changes in workers’ rights, working and living conditions and socioeconomic development together with the local plant union. This facilitates a potential follow up on social development and workers’ rights in a few years’ time.

1.1 Research objective The broader objective of this research is to gain empirical insight into and elucidate what social impacts the introduction of FSC certification has had to date for different stakeholders.

The aim is to obtain these individuals’ perspective of what effects the certification have had both on labour standards and living conditions. How have, for example, social aspects, included in FSC’s FM, but absent in FSC’s CoC certification, been implemented on the plant level and influenced workers’ rights, working conditions and the socioeconomic development amongst workers and indigenous communities? In this sense, can dissimilarities be found, not only between the two certifications, but amongst different worker groups (permanent, contract & sub-contract workers) and what are these individuals’ employment security, rights at work, social protection and right to social dialogue? In essence, is FSC’s CoC certification the missing link to a decent and productive work, and for a decent living through eco-labelling?

With regards to asserting forest certifications’ potential positive social impacts, working and living conditions would plainly put, need to keep a minimum amount of ‘decency’ for a wide range of involved stakeholders, from when the wood is cut until the end product reaches the customer. Especially, as poor working conditions remain a contemporary problem in a neo-liberal environment, in which production factories in developing countries operate today. Therefore, it is especially attractive to evaluate the impacts FSC certification and trade unions can bring to assist improvements in working conditions. It is, for instance, of interest to study if hazardous working conditions still prevail almost a decade after the initial certifications. Are excessive working hours,

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pitiable wages and absence of social protection long bygone, or do they remain persisting features for a majority of workers? Pertaining eco-labels, what are the experiences for community members and forest workers involved in the direct forestry? Have FSC’s Forest Management achieved the established improvements it set out to do, providing user rights, cultural, social and economic benefits, and allowed these communities to reap the profits envisioned by the certification’s standard statement? In essence, can forest certification and its scope, be the ‘social enhancement instrument’ required in order to achieve a decent living through a decent work? A further objective is to distinguish the plant-union’s experiences and exertion towards ILO’s decent work objectives. Individuals’ right to social protection in the form of unionisation and insurances are other concerns that are supposed to be addressed by FSC certification, but which still remain to be unfolded. How does Kahutindo describe the company’s efforts, attitudes and progression towards improved labour conditions? Does the plant union connect contingent advances in labour standards with FSC certification, and what is their take on decent work objectives in the Chain of Custody certification? Relating decent work objectives, have trade union membership been respected for the workforce, and what are the trade union’s main concerns regarding the advancement of the labourers’ legal rights, in accordance with Core ILO conventions?

People’s knowledge of environmental problems and FSC certification are two relevant questions to study, as they demonstrate what tools certain individuals have to, for instance, present complaints and irregularities from the certification standards.

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1.2 Research questions A number of significant research questions, relating social development of certification systems still exist to be explored in order to gain in-depth knowledge of the social situation to date:

• With ILO’s concept of decent work in mind, what do different stakeholders’ working conditions and social situation look like today, and furthermore, what developments have FSC’s certifications brought since the implementation stage so far for different individuals?

• What are different stakeholders’ understanding and perception of environmental

problems and FSC’s certification system, and how have they been involved in it?

• What has been the plant union’s experience of FSC certification, and what do they consider FSC certifications’ prospect to improve labour standards for different stakeholders and to achieve a decent work?

1.3 Research scope The fieldwork was focused on one specific area and certification system due to restrictions in time and in financial means. Nonetheless, the opportunity and choice to study one company more exhaustively facilitated for the study to go more in depth and to study more profoundly the impacts from FSC certification on different stakeholders.

This would otherwise very likely have gone missing, as the selection to focus on one area and company not only enabled, but also contributed to a deeper understanding of the research problematic. For instance, the focus on only social aspects of FSC’s certifications allowed the views of different stakeholders to be heard on what potential social development had taken place to date.

As previously mentioned, only one FSC certified company was studied. Further studies could with preference study the impacts of FSC certification amongst different companies in the same area and furthermore, between non-certified and certified companies in the same district. As previously mentioned in the introduction, FSC has been criticised for focusing mainly on environmental aspects. This study does not aim to set apart the three sustainability dimensions, but rather, to direct focus on the less researched areas such as the exclusion of certain stakeholders. Furthermore, national

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laws, which have an impact on labour regulations in Indonesia, previously have received much attention in the literature (see for example, Stockmann, 2005) and are here only noted when relevant for the discussion on social sustainability goals in FSC’s certifications.

1.4 Structure of the research The first chapter introduces the reader to how concerns over environmental degradation, in the form of tropical deforestation, came to result in the creation of a soft policy tool such as FSC’s forest certification system. Further, it commences the reader in the discussion on forest certification systems, and especially, the less studied social impacts on different stakeholders, in both FSC’s Forest Management and Chain of Custody certifications.

The second chapter outlines the state of the art of certification and eco-labelling. It establishes the different ideas that the research is constructed upon. Its focal point lies on how certifications are used to promote ethical consumption, where social, economical and environmental aspects need to be integrated.

Chapter three covers the study’s methodological structure and considerations, where different research methods and their pros and cons in the context, are discussed. An explanatory account is given on the chosen research methods, the sampling process and the selection of respondents. Chapter four gives insight into climatic change and forest certification systems as part of Sustainable Forest Management to tackle such issues. It clarifies different concepts and the standards used in FSC’s certifications, and also makes a critical review of the literature to date on social impacts in certifications.

Chapter five follows and explains the recent developments of trade unions and why such social movements take an interest in deforestation and forest certification. This chapter further covers challenges certifications are faced with to meet ILO’s decent work agenda. It provides an introduction to how the traditional roles of trade unions have transformed to become involved in global questions of social and ecological sustainability, relating to ethics and a decent work to enjoy a decent living. The sixth chapter presents the first out of three result parts. It covers different stakeholders’ perception of FSC’s CoC certification, examined relating to ILO’s decent work agenda, and describes these people’s impressions of socio-economic changes since its implementation. Chapter seven attends to the results from FSC’s Forest Management certification, allowing indigenous people and forest workers to make their voices heard. The last of the result chapters, chapter eight, summarises Kahutindo’s experiences

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regarding FSC certification as a potential tool to raise the social bar in the forest and wood sectors. Chapter nine handles the analysis of the results, and in chapter ten, the main conclusions of the body of research are established.

2. Certification & eco-labelling

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2. Certification & eco-labelling This chapter consists of three sub-chapters. Chapter 2.1 introduces certification and labelling as an environmental and social instrument to tackle environmental change. It further makes some notes on ‘ethical trade’ and ethical aspects of production. Chapter 2.2 reviews the general critique written about certifications, accentuating both the problems and more positive prospects from certification. Chapter 2.3 presents forest certification and the present debate regarding its drawbacks and strengths. Further, the chapter clarifies the significance of such schemes by connecting consumer pressure for certified products and social performances in the production phase.

2.1 A challenging beginning At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, 156 countries signed the guidance document Agenda 21. It established a prospective answer to tackle not only current, but also future climate change concerns. It constituted that sustainability development needed to be pillared amongst three core components: economic development, conservation of the environment and social justice. Even though “Tackling the major issues of global environmental change was one of the key actions in implementing sustainable development”, it is widely held that all three components must interact to some degree for sustainability (Adger et al., 2001:681). However, turning the commitment of sustainable development into concrete, defined policy changes and implementing them, have proven to be a challenging issue (Hezri & Dovers 2006, Gandenberger et al., 2011). The recognition, that sustainability thinking needed to spread onto the production process, remains a relatively recent insight.

For instance, in the early 1980s, many companies embellished labels onto their products, and in a surreptitious manner passed them off as sounder then their competitors. Unsurprisingly, “many products were shown to be no less harmful than their non-labelled equivalents”, as producers could create their own labels without the interference of external control mechanisms (Blowfield, 1999:761). To come to terms with transparency issues, dedicated certification schemes began to use independent, often third-party, accredited auditors to perform their audits and assessments (Courville, 2003). Indicators, audits and assessments evaluate the impacts from certifications on different spatial and temporal scales.


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While conversing on the subject of certification and labelling schemes, one should keep in mind the distinction between the two. Certification, for instance:

“…is broadly defined as a voluntary procedure that assesses, audits, and gives written assurance that a facility, product, process or service meets specific standards. It usually awards a marketable logo to those that meet or exceed the baseline standards” (Bien, 2003:7).

Labelling or eco-labelling are terms used for the ‘marketable logo’ that acts as a form of sustainability statement towards the clientele. “Labelling is used as a means of communicating information about the social or environmental conditions surrounding the production of goods or provisions of a service“ (Blowfield, 1999:761). Hence, a formal certification process enables consumers to make a distinction between products or services which are thoroughly, independently scrutinised, rather than companies enforcing their conflicting agendas.

2.1.1 Ethical trade The essence of ‘ethical trade’ is rather challenging to frame (Browne et al., 2000). Blowfield argues that the term “…at least in the UK, is frequently used to refer to the sourcing of products from companies guaranteeing core labour and human rights standards to their workforce” and which restructure traditional North-South relationships (1995, 1999:753). The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), for example, uses SA8000, Social Accountability standards, to supervise the implementation of core labour standards in production chains. Contrary to popular beliefs, ethical trade is not automatically the equivalent to organic trade (Browne et al., 2000). “Even ethical sourcing, despite sometimes being called ethical trading, is about managing the social conditions of production, not examining trading relations” (Blowfield, 1999:754).

In times when many companies systematically replace high-wage labour with low-wage labour in other parts of the world, sturdy collaborations between different actors could instead push for a more sophisticated ethical reflection in the production process (Mehmet, Mendes & Sinding, 1999). Cross-sectorial partnerships, which Gandenberger et al., term “certification networks”, is one such example where trade unions, NGOs, governments and/or the private sector come together to form new, stronger networks (2011:107). These networks strongly promote the implementation of ethical sourcing initiatives, and build upon ideas of more holistic and ethical practises by companies, where both societal and environmental outcomes play a stronger role (Gandenberger et al., 2011).


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2.1.2 Conventional and alternative certification Certification schemes figure in diverse structures, scopes and coverage. The swiftness of their growth, and the power with which certifications have created a niche in the global market scene, permits authors to express certification systems as ‘soft policy’ and ‘market-based social change’ instruments (Rametsteiner & Simula 2003, Taylor 2005).

Several, well established segments exist on the world market, including agriculture, tourism, fishery and forestry (Chung, 2011). A number of systems, such as Fairtrade and FSC, have achieved substantial market recognition and established strong brand names for themselves (Taylor, 2005). The well-known Fairtrade trademark, which people mostly associate with its coffee, tea and cotton initiative has partnerships with major traders such as Starbucks to target “…the market to transform the market”. Their objective is to assist smallholders to access the market with their products (Taylor, 2005:130). The Fairtrade movement attempts to establish trade practices that both benefit, and protect, small producers. An important incentive is that a badge of honour for certified companies can cause a favourable market advantage over the competitors (Cashore, 2006). The present demand for certified products is hard to contradict. Blowfield, for instance, states how:

“… the fair-trade market accounts for US$400 million in retail sales each year in Europe and the USA. The global organic market is estimated to be worth $11 billion, with organic imports from developing countries worth $500 million. According to some estimates, certified timber products will account for 15% of the timber market in certain European countries by 1999” (1999:754).

Blowfield’s predictions showed to be reliable as FSC’s products were estimated to be worth more than $20 Billion USD in 2011 (FSC, 2011b), whilst Fairtrade products have continued to be embraced by customers, reaching elevated numbers of £1.17 billion in 2010 (Fairtrade Foundation, 2011). As pointed out earlier, many unconventional types of certifications and eco-labelling initiatives have found their way onto the labelling market. Palm oil production, by many scholars considered a major contributor to deforestation, certifies palm oil plantations which promote “the growth and use of sustainable palm oil” (RSPO, 2011). Marko et al., (2011) report in a recent study that they found mislabelled fish from certified fish operators, which claimed to provide sustainably harvested seafood with a MSC label. Their results showed that uncertified fish had been inserted into the supply chain at some stage. As a result, uncertified fish were sold off as MSC certified.


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Furthermore, the WWF remains highly critical towards the European Commission’s own EU Ecolabel, which aims to encourage different businesses to market products and services that are deemed better for the environment than the competitors (WWF, 2011). The WWF criticises that the EU Ecolabel was awarded to a company with a history of forest clearing in particularly sensitive landscapes (for example in carbon rich peat lands) in Indonesia. Even after the label had been awarded, the WWF claims that there is nothing assuring that the company finished their destructible actions. The NGO FERN reports that ‘EU Ecolabel allows forest destruction’ and called upon the European Commission to withdraw the label:

“…from the two products because of weaknesses in the criteria used to assess sustainability, the auditing process, and the absence of a policy of association (i.e rules to prevent the “greenwashing” of a company via ecolabels for niche product-lines without regard to the company’s overall environmental performances)” (WWF, 2011:2).

Predictable, discussions especially in the scientific world, query whether certification, de facto, contributes to social, ecological and economic sustainability.

2.2 Certification to promote ethical consumption? Even though many consumers in the west assume that ethical trade somehow has positive effects in developing countries, a number of authors argue the direct opposite. Blowfield (1999) and Chandler (2006) claim that ethical trade and certifications, effectively, can have the complete contrary result. The operation of Fairtrade met with apprehension as it has been described “…at best a charitable irrelevance and that at worst it will prove counter-productive to the true interests of the poor by distorting markets and thus limiting the rate of economic growth…” (Chandler, 2006:255). However, Chandler’s gloomy predictions are not shared by authors such as Bartley (2003), Taylor (2004), Bulkan (2004) and Jakopovich (2009).

Instead, Bartley argues that the rise of certification relates to greater political dynamics, rather than, “empty, corporate-sponsored public relations rhetoric” (2003:436). He supports his argument by stating that there exists a dynamic involvement from environmental, social and human rights groups in certification. This assertion is supported by Taylor (2004), who describes that certification and labelling initiatives attend to complications created by globalisation, especially relating to social injustices and environmental degradation. Bulkan (2004:1) follows on the same line of thought,


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and describes certified products as “the trophies of values-based marketing to a socially and environmentally conscious consumer”, while Eden and Bear (2010:84) see the advantage of labelling as providing “…assurance to the customer, who can support better environmental management through choosing certified products”.

Jakopovich (2009:74) argues in his article ‘Uniting to win: Labor-Environmental Alliances’, that the basic rational behind forming broad alliances between labour and environmental movements, is to “seriously challenge hyper-exploitation and social and environmental destruction”. As different groups, such as social and environmental movements, pressurise retailers by means of boycotting for example tropical timber, companies’ practises in sourcing countries are increasingly becoming more and more scrutinised.

The ‘naming and shaming’ of Nike’s activities in their production countries resulted in what has now been branded, ‘Nike’s sweatshops’ or referred to as the ‘Nike argument’. Over the course of the 1990s, Nike became infamous and received hefty critic and media attention because of the company’s notorious and shady working conditions (Bartley, 2003). The company had been exposed to use factories where poor working conditions were widespread, to use child labour and to underpay workers (Falck & Heblich, 2007).With exposing reports in 1992 from a labour activist, Jeff Ballinger, who produced a report on working conditions and wage levels, the public’s discontent with Nike’s engagements mounted. Students protested against Nike’s endorsement arrangements with their schools and caricatures parodying Nike and their labour practises crowned their newspaper (Spar & La Mure, 2003).

Even Phil Knight, Nike’s founder and CEO, stated in 1998 that “the Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime, and arbitrary abuse”(Locke, 2003:42). However, Nike’s spokeswoman long maintained that “We’re about sports, not manufacturing 101” and remained adamant that “low wages were a crucial element of a country’s path to growth” (Spar & La Mure, 2003:22).

At first, Nike managers defended their actions and pointed out that the workers in the factory were not, per se, Nike employees, and hence, Nike had no moral obligation towards these workers. However, after the scandal in 1992 and persistent bad media exposure, Nike backed on its relaxed attitude on working conditions and tried to rebrand itself by formulating code of conducts. The code of conducts stated the workers basic labour rights and health and safety standards for the suppliers. Furthermore, Nike hired a team of specialists to monitor that the suppliers complied with the codes, performed periodic audits and initiated inspections by the Fair Labor Association (Locke & Romis, 2007). Nevertheless, whilst Locke and Remis’ (2007:56) study found that some improvements had taken place at some factories, other factories “…suffer from endemic problems such as poor wages, excessive work hours or harassment”.


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Nike is however only one of many companies that have been named and shamed. Major companies such as the British Petroleum giant, now rebranded as BP, Shell and Gap, all encountered similar scrutiny and damaged reputations, when reports emerged of their activities in Nigeria, Indonesia, Cambodia and Colombia. BP, for instance, was named one of the ten worst corporations of 2000 by Multinational Monitor (Beder, 2002). As a response, BP tried to rebrand itself as BP: Beyond Petroleum in 2000 and at the same time made new environmental commitments and tried to create a more socially responsible image. Earlier attempts by BP to build up their destroyed reputation costed them $20 million dollars and had been“…met with ridicule…” and that the only green thing with BP was their logo (Beder, 2002:26). In addition, BP has at large failed to embrace the socially responsible stands the company tries to portray itself as (Beder, 2000:26).

Bulkan (2004:1), reasonably argues that certification systems “fundamentally challenges consumers to recognize that physically identical products can have different social meanings”. In addition, Bulkan’s statement is a strong argument in support of certification, as a damaged brand name can end in consumer rejection. The power of a company’s image, not to mention reputation, can play an immense role for socially or environmentally concerned consumers (Armstrong 2001, Locke & Romis 2007). On the contrary to Nike and BP, other companies such as the Body Shop and Starbucks, acquire much attention for their ethical positioning. Selling organic, non-animal tested, or Fairtrade products, swiftly is turning into a profitable niche market, and a way for companies to develop their image (Calo & Wise, 2005). Hiscox and Smyth (2011), which studied the connection between labelling and labour standards, support this statement. Their study revealed that augmented costs to improve labour conditions often can be regained in increased profits. Hiscox and Smyth remarks that “a majority of surveyed consumers say they would be willing to pay for products they could identify as being made under good working conditions abroad rather than in sweatshops…” (2011:1). Meanwhile, Mahony (2007:394) found that certification in the tourism sector has a vast potential, as”… sustainability issues are increasingly affecting tourists’ buying patterns and behaviour”.

To fully assess and predict consumer behaviour remains almost impossible. Hiscox and Smyth (2011:1) expresses that there is no clear evidence that:

“…enough consumers would actually behave in this fashion, and pay a high enough premium, to make social labelling profitable for firms and effective as a means by which to raise labour standards abroad”.


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2.2.1 The chicken or the egg? Bartley opposes the idea of consumer requests as the foundation for certification and argues that certified products create the market per se.

“…in contrast to the notion that certification and labeling initiatives are merely responses to the rise of socially and environmentally responsible consumerism, research on these programs suggests that stable markets for certified products rarely exists before the programs are begun-at least not at a scale that would warrant the amount of effort being put into these programs. Instead, making markets for certified prod-ucts is part of a larger institution-building project that occurs along with con-struction of certification associations” (Bartley, 2003:435).

Irrespective of the causality dilemma, retail demands for certified products and services are larger than ever before (Klooster, 2008). However, high costs are often inevitable for companies that choose to certify their businesses. Moreover, an unbalance of granted certifications towards larger over smaller enterprises throws concerns over who actually reaps the benefits of these systems. Reports indicate that the cost induced by certification easily could overshadow potential benefits (Cashore, 2006). Mahony, argues that it is down to the willingness of enterprise owners:

“…to have their establishments independently certified, and the limited perceived benefits of certification. Critics of certification argue that this absence of a critical mass has resulted in certification having only a marginal impact on the sustainable development…” (Mahony, 2007:404).

In this context, future efforts need to spur additional demand for certified products (Cashore, 2006). Following on the same line of thought, Melser and Robertson, question if certifications, in fact, could be seen as a form of trade barrier.

“In some respects the practice of eco-labelling is very similar to the more widespread practice of health and safety labelling….with respect to international trade policy, they pose similar problems in that both may require an importing country to insist that foreign exporters meet labelling requirements, thus having the potential to be misused as technical trade barriers” (2005:50).


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Doubting certifications endorsement, Cohn and O’Rourke (2011) claim that there persist several complications to reach the objective with certifications. Some of the pitfalls come from misguiding standards, inadequate impact assessment and the complicated issue of connecting the processes to the outcomes.

2.2.2 Certification to fill (in) the gap? Researchers point out how the shift from government to governance allocates a more

prominent role for civil society in environmental management. The reallocation that sees

the state’s traditional policymaking being replaced by stakeholder debates, gives space

for certification systems to fill the regulatory gap (Eden & Bear 2010, Jordan et al.,

2003).

The literature on this, relatively new discourse, remains both large and divided in

stance. Bulkan (2004) describes voluntary market-based initiatives as a form of new

environmental law, while Cashore et al., (2004) portray certification schemes as a type

of non-state, market driven governance. Monbiot (2001:54) remains so optimistic of

certifications’ influential power, that he maintains that“…consumers can press the

companies to be more capable than the weakening governments” and Eden and Bear

illustrate non-state actors as “…filling the regulatory gap…” (2010:84). Other

establishments delineate forest certification as “perhaps the most powerful ‘soft policy’

instrument to be designed and implemented outside government” (WCFSD, 1999).

Others, sounding a note of caution, question the risks of NGOs or companies

making traditionally state-led decisions. In theory, could not the absence of government

authority diminish their regularity powers (Cashore et al., 2004)? How should, for

example, NGOs frame their networks, implement their standards in varying geographical

settings, and fit these into international supply chains (Eden and Bear, 2010)? Some

certifications might value societal aspects, while ignoring environmental parts and

contrariwise. Consequently, certification networks are extra important, as they empower

inventiveness for sustainable practices amongst different stakeholders (Bartley, 2003).


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2.2.3 Social and environmental aspects for sustainability Bartley (2003) is not the only author that puts forward the drawbacks of separating social and environmental aspects (Welford 1995, Blowfield et al,. 1999). A well-recognised example to illustrate this problematic is Fairtrade. Initially focusing on ‘ethical’ socioeconomic aspects, Fairtrade’s main focus is on different programs to empower farmers in the global south. A minimum price is guaranteed to the farmers for their products and they are offered long-term contracts with non-exploitive working conditions. However, Fairtrade came under scrutiny when it was brought to light that they labelled products which used environmentally damaging pesticides. Since then, pesticide levels in certified and organic products have been drastically reduced (Baker et al., 2002). A corresponding series of events took place inside the forest certification sector. This time, the criticism came from social movements, whose criticism addressed the preference of environmental over social aspects in other forms of certifications (BWI, 2011). Most notable, FSC, together with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), demand both socioeconomical and ecological commitments from companies. Blowfield et al., (1999) hold that it provides a competitive angle to market access, whilst Taylor ascribes Fairtrade and FSC as innovative “win-win” initiatives in response to difficult economic and environmental struggles (2005:129).

2.3 Forest certification: an environmental start Enforced in the 1990s by environmental NGOs to hinder the rapid deforestation rate, forest certification schemes have gone through vast changes from the initial ecological conservation instrument. Nowadays, a variety of certifications impose both social and economic functions of Sustainable Forest Management (Taylor, 2004:134). These social commitments capture community relations and tenure rights for indigenous people. In some cases they enforce Occupational Safety and Health at work and require companies to follow binding ILO conventions (Bass et al., 2001, Molnar 2003, Schyvens et al., 2007, FSC 2011a).


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Despite the verity that forest certification systems have made immense progress in terms of adoption and market recognition, opponents claim it to be a system above all fixed on labelling ‘wood’ products entering into the international timber market (Schyvens et al., 2007). Thus, Bowling describes how:

“…timber is being sold with a label that has been produced in factories where less than adequate labour standards exist…and ultimately certification needs to be extended to include all stages of the production process” (Bowling, 2003:63).

Bowling’s statement illustrates the major concerns over social aspects in forest certification to date.

2.3.1 To certify or not: why is it a still a question in forestry? Owing to certification’s high costs, few companies in the global south have gone through with the process (Durst et al., 2011, GreenBlue 2011). Gullison (2003), claims that the costs for forest operators in the south is significantly greater than any potential market benefits. The problem derives from that some countries “…lack the capacity to undergo a certification audit and maintain operations to a certified standard” (GreenBlue, 2011). Some supporters detected that while certification improved forest management practices, the improvement had been “on large-scale industrial and state-owned temperate and boreal forests, while the impacts on forests in developing countries have been far less significant” (Durst et al., 2011:194). Another issue is the role of how forest management practices change between different companies, i.e. companies with better management practices will more likely participate in certification, virtually excluding the real ruffians (Bowling, 2003).

As a consequence, the majority of certified companies operate in Europe and North America, although the initial attention was to hinder deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics (GreenBlue, 2011). In fact, 33 percent of the world’s forests are tropical, with certification covering a negligible one percent of the tropical timber market. Forest operators, who want to sell their products, might meet with rejection as some big retailers only accept wood from a certified i.e. legitimate source (Miyata, 2008). Perhaps the most noteworthy is the transnational furniture and wood retailer IKEA, while The Home Depot and B&Q are following suite (Klooster, 2008). As a response to the high costs, many countries developed their own national certification systems, for instance the Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (LEI) and the Malaysia Timber Certification Council (MTCC). The Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade


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(FLEGT) action plan remains a voluntary system that asserts that only legitimate timber sources reaches the European market (European Commission, 2011). This initiative will make it more complicated for illegal timber to access the European market, but in its turn, will make it more difficult for uncertified companies to trade their products on the international market.

2.3.2 Happily ever after? Keeping an eye on working conditions The initial aim to preserve tropical forest through certification, has been unsuccessful to a large part due to the high cost for forest managers to certify their operations. At the same time, consumer (retail) demand for certified, labelled wood products emerges.

Hitherto, social performance in forest operations remains a dim matter, as timber is sold with a label produced in factories that sometimes do not meet even the most fundamental labour standards (Bowling, 2003). According to the World Rainforest Movement (WRM), pending conflicts between forest operator and indigenous communities captures another problematic. In a number of cases, forest certification has been approved while local communities have objected against the forest operator (WRM, 2011). The issues, rooted in that “Forest certification is depending on the ability to cover the costs incurred and thus on often-elusive green consumer sentiment”, have had solemn effects for the most vulnerable workers, whom acquired no additional protection through the certification (Schyvens et al., 2007). The situation for marginalized workers remains a persistent and complimented problem to address in forestry (Bowling, 2003). However, forest certification’s aim is to gradually improve the forest operators’ social and ecological management. One author describes that:

“In effect, the FSC certificate is being awarded to…operation not so much because the operation already complies with the FSC standards but in order to encourage the company to gradually bring itself up to the mark. ‘Step wise certification’ it seems is being introduced by the back door” (Colchester, 2006:1).

FERN accurately argue that to influence consumers’ decision process, certifications must enforce social aspects from the forest, until the product reaches the shop.

“For a product from a certified forest to carry a label claiming that the product comes from well-managed forests, it is necessary to certify the ‘chain of custody’, including log transport, processing, shipping and further processing. To allow consumers to make a choice with positive impacts, a reliable chain of


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custody is essential. Without this, there is nothing to link the product to the certified forest“ (2001:27).

As it can be exceedingly problematic for the certification body to control a forest manager’s practises more than a few times a year, workers’ participation in certification provides an instrument to expose nonconformities (Bowling, 2003).

2.4 Political ecology and forest certification This body of work uses a political ecology approach to understand the impacts that FSC’s certification system has on the local scale, whilst fighting recognised global environmental problems in the form of forest degradation. The definition of political ecology used for this study is mainly based upon the work of a zealous political ecologist, Paul Robbins. In Robbins’ book, ‘Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction’, he defines political ecology as:

“…empirical, researched-based explorations to explain linkages in the condition and change of social/environmental systems, with explicit consideration of relations of power. Political ecology, moreover, explores these social and environmental changes with normative understanding that there are very likely better, less coercive, less exploitative, and more sustainable ways of doing things” (Robbins, 2004:12).

In addition, Peet and Watts’ text ‘Liberation ecologies’, outlines the objective to “raise the emancipatory potential of environmental ideas and to engage directly with the larger landscape of debates over modernity, its institutions, and its knowledges” (1996:37). It therefore adopts that development and environmental policy are central features in an exceedingly changing and institutionalised society (Walker, 2006).

By undertaking what Robbins (2004) refers to as doing political ecology, one studies the complex and contingent social processes that affect the management of land-based resources. Its strengths lie in that it enables various dimensions of resource access, use and control to be observed, whilst examining underlying influences that political natural resource decisions have at e.g. local, national and international levels. This is particularly attractive, as it enables and puts to the foreground an explorative explanation to resource access and control, where power remains a keyword to unfold different dynamics. Therefore, its impetus lies in that it enables a study of how different people manage natural resources, especially viewed from unequal power-relationships (Robbins


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2004, Peluso 1992a, Peluso 1992b). In this particular study, this inequality is present between workers/management, trade unions/management as well as indigenous communities/forest company. By doing so, the intention is to disentangle and unravel conflicting and concealed outcomes from governance policies, as well as the power of forest certification and its emancipatory capacities.

Discussing truth and power, Foucault claimed that truth, in fact, is an effect of power. In such a way, it is shaped through speech and imposes a certain social order, giving the impression of being evident (Robbins, 2004:65). Robbins described that:

“The implications of taking this notion seriously in environmental research are large. If accounts about people like herders or farmers or things like cattle or trees are conditioned and stabilized by social structure of power, the problem is not only understanding how social and environmental conditions change over time, or how they become undesirable, or how they can be changed. The problem is also understanding how scientific accounts, government documents, and local stories about those same social and environmental conditions are formed and made powerful by state institutions, media companies, experts, and families” (Robbins, 2004:66).

One renowned and self-declared political ecologist with decade long experience and insight from Indonesia, is Nancy Lee Peluso. Peluso, author of multiple articles such as ‘The Ironwood Problem: (Mis) Management and Development of an Extractive Rainforest Product’ and ‘The Political Ecology of Extraction and Extractive Reserve in East Kalimantan’, excavates how the urge to control forests and forest related products, have had major influences on the Indonesian state’s land use policies. Explaining the path from ancient to contemporary forest regulation in Indonesia, Peluso (1992a) describes the early regulation as structurally rooted in societal relationships, and how these:

“…traditional rights and local controls over the products of the forest have become entangled in a morass of government regulations and access laws imposed by a highly centralised state committed to rapid and large-scale exploitation of its natural resources” (Peluso, 1992a:52).

For example, Peluso (1992a) highlights how indigenous communities’ informal access and communal control over resources have changed due to outside influences (most notably colonists, the government, forest enterprises). Peluso maintains that the arrangement of control has transformed from informal and local, into centralised and formal, resulting in a denial of access. This demonstrates and explicates why the


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problem, de facto, is of a political nature (Peluso, Potter & Vandergeest 1995, Peluso 1992a, Peluso 1992b). Furthermore, Peluso (1992b) and Peluso, Potter & Vandergeest (1995) state that local people need to adapt to the government’s legislation on their own terms for their re-empowerment and to be involved in national forest policy in order to be able to compete with capital orientated forest enterprises. In essence, the tension between local and central control over resources is a complex problem, implicating implicit power relations. Authors such as Eden and Bear (2010) and Monbiot (2001), discussed environmental governance systems to fill in the regulatory gap from the increasingly weakening government structure. Such statements need to be considered with a sense of caution, as not to overestimate the impacts of the governance system itself, by ruling out the importance of, for instance, social programs provided by governments. As Bowling (2003) rightfully assessed, social performance in forest operations remains a dim matter, as timber is sold with a label produced in factories that sometimes do not meet even the most fundamental labour standards. Control and report mechanisms, as well as rigorous supervision and stakeholders’ participation are therefore vital components to avoid mismanagement in labour conditions and greenwashing. Extended certification networks are imperative, as they empower inventiveness for sustainable practices amongst different stakeholders. Furthermore, as FERN (2001) importantly pointed out, social aspects from forest certification must transpire all the way through the certification chain to prove to customers its social commitments. In addition, social and environmental aspects should not be separated in forest certification in order to make sound sustainability claims through an eco-label.

Following on Robbins’ (2004:52) argument, systems “… that govern use, overuse, degradation, and recovery of the environment are structured into a larger social engine…” where control of nature and labour is in focus. Hence, to study the political ecology of forest certification and eco-labelling would not be complete “…without serious attention to who profits from changes in control over resources, and without exploring who takes what from whom” (Robbins, 2004:52). It therefore becomes evident that political ecology has close ties to a broadly defined political economy (Robbins, 2004:51). In this study, it encompasses, at any rate, some precepts of materialism. The authoritative of such a doctrine and the evidence of such features are reflected in the financial exchange amongst and between people with forest related products and the overuse of profitable forest resources, whereby causing stress to environmental systems.

Albeit forest certification in much of the literature is considered as a sustainable and conventional form of certification, much remains to be established before such an assertion can gain recognition. As companies strive to increase their profits, the outsourcing of production to developing countries has caused serious challenges for the


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future to stop sweatshops and the hyper exploitation of labour. In such a context, forest certification is depending on the ability and will of companies to cover the costs incurred and on consumer sentiment, raising questions of its implications and power as soft policy tools.

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3. Methodological considerations

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3. Methodological considerations In order to gain insight into different stakeholders’ perspective of FSC’s certifications, the choice was made to perform an ethnographic field study. The purpose of the fieldwork, which was carried out in spring 2011 in Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia, was to gain knowledge of what social changes had taken place after FSC certification was introduced, according to the perception of various affected parties. Another aim, closely entwined with the first, was to examine the influence the local plant union have had to achieve ILO’s decent work agenda. It was of importance to interact personally with the people that were directly encountering the impacts of the soft policy instrument, rather than basing the study on a somewhat rather limited scope of second hand sources (for a review see Karmann, 2009). Each respondent could therefore express his or her opinion on the subject, as the data was empirically grounded in qualitative interviews and observational fieldwork. The following sections provide the reader with a short introduction to Indonesia, it handles why Indonesia initially was chosen as the study location. Additionally, a throughout account of the selection of field methods and respondents is reviewed. A short description follows on how the interviews were coded de facto, inspired from grounded theory and with the aid of the software Nvivo.

3.1 Field study location: Kalimantan, Indonesia This chapter handles the methodological choices of the study and how the data was processed. Indonesia was selected as the field study country. FSC is the only major forest certification system that is operating in the country with the exemption from LEI, Indonesia’s own compulsory certification. Indonesia harbours one of the world’s richest biodiversities, yet, facing alarmingly high deforestation rates (FAO, 2002). The combination of the two facilitates for initiatives, such as Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification systems.


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3.1.1 Indonesia’s forestry, problems and challenges Indonesia, the fourth most populated nation in the world, fosters a renowned biodiversity, which remains the residence for many rural, indigenous forest communities. Borneo is the name the Dutch gave to the island of Kalimantan (Figure, 1) during the colonial period. However, local people still refer to the area as Kalimantan. The island is home to an astonishing high number of flowers, trees, mammals and birds spreading out over an archipelago of 13 000 islands (MacKinnon et al., 1998).

Figure 1: Indonesia, the circle shows East Kalimantan. Source: Google Earth, 2012 In the 1800s, Indonesia came under Dutch administration. When the Dutch hegemony ended in 1949, Indonesian nationalists declared the country’s independence. Even though Indonesia gained its sovereignty, in return, it was left with the political structure from the colonisation period. The Jakarta based, centralised department of Forestry “…denied customary rights, arrogated all forest lands to the State and allowed them to be leased out in concessions to commercial operators…” (Colchester 2004:1, Peluso 1992a).


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As a consequence, Kalimantan’s forests were divided into multiple logging concessions (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Logging concessions (in purple) East Kalimantan Source: Ministry of Forestry, 2011. Especially conflicts between indigenous tribes, who claim the right to the land, and the commercial operators who leased it, remains very much persisting into present day (Colchester, 2004). One exemplification of the problematic is the situation for forest communities which have become impoverished. According to Colchester, many have lost their previous livelihoods, experienced land invasion, social disruptions and indigenous communities’ resistance “…has been routinely, often violently, suppressed by State security forces financed by the same companies” (2004:2).

Erwidodo et al., (2000:29) described how Indonesia’s logging export flourished in the 1970s and “…became the biggest exporter of tropical timber within a decade”. Further endorsements in the country’s plywood production in the 1980s placed Indonesia on the world map as the number one plywood exporter (Erwidodo et al., 2000).

3.1.2 A brief overview of deforestation in Kalimantan

Scholars, as well as prominent organisations such as the FAO, claim poor governance implementation, illegal logging and unsustainable logging practices as the source to Indonesia’s high deforestation rate. Other explanations include land conversion, mining and corruption (Achard et al., 2002, Gascon et al., 2000, Simorangkir 2011, FAO 2005).


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Pin Koh and Wilcove (2008) claim that a conversion of primary and secondary forests leads to major biodiversity losses. They found evidence indicating that Indonesia’s palm oil expansion, in fact, occurred at the expense of the forests. In their own estimations, at least 56 percent of the forest loss could be explained due to the profitable and lucrative palm oil business. Curran et al., (2004) considered in particular concession-based timber extraction, establishment of plantations, and weak institutions to result in an exceedingly fragmentised and degraded forest landscape. In addition, researchers focusing on social and community relations, highlighted how forest depending communities show anxiety over if they will be able to rely on the forest in the future as the main source for their survival (Cashore et al., 2006).

From early 1967 until 1972, 60 percent of Kalimantan’s 344 000 km² land area had been exploited for industrial forest use. Regrettably, a majority of the concession operators harvested or had received timber from Kalimantan’s protected areas (Curran et al., 2004). The Centre for International Forestry Research, CIFOR, estimates an increase in Indonesia’s deforestation rate from 1.6 million ha/year in 1985 to 3.8 million ha/year in 2000 (CIFOR, 2011). In recent years, government policies have been implemented to hinder the quick deforestation. According to Kahutindo (2010), the annual allowable cut from concessions in natural forests has sunk to a staggering tenth of the production capacity at existing plymill factories.

SFM covers not only ecological aspects, but also organisational, legal, technological, financial and social features of forest use. According to FAO, the concept and scope of SFM is intricate to define. However, one aspect covers the socio-economical function of forest resources for the overall economy. This includes new employment opportunities, trade and investments in the forest sector, together with environmental protection, land tenure, indigenous people and traditional knowledge.

The Ministry of Forestry holds the general responsibility over the rehabilitation of degraded and deforested land. New projects, in the form of REDD and REDD+ partnerships, conservation efforts, Forest Certification systems and Forest Carbon Programs, have in recent years made their way onto the Indonesian forestry scene (FSC 2008, Simorangkir 2011). Such initiatives are often connected to hefty revenues at disposal for the Ministry of Forestry. One such case is the Indonesian and Australian Sumatra Forest Carbon Partnership, worth an estimated 30 million Australian dollars.

Berau Forest Carbon Program is another major REDD project. The multiple threats that the Berau region’s forests face are not in any way unique. The area consists of three timber plantations, seven protected forests, 11 timber concessions, 27 mining concessions and 32 oil palm plantations, (Simorangkir, 2011). According to the Ministry of Forestry, more than 75 percent of the area is forest, but the formally protected area only covers up to a fifth of the land (2009). In recent years, forest certification systems


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are underway to seize a more prominent role in the field of environmental protection, social protection and management.

3.2 Field study methods An ethnographic fieldwork design was used to collect the data. Brockington & Sullivan (2003:57) write in their book; Development fieldwork, how “Qualitative research tends to collect data in natural settings, rather than artificial and constructed context”. Using unstructured and semi-structured interviews allows the respondent to speak in a more liberal manner in contrary to structured interviews (Clifford & Valentine 2003:120-121, Bryman 2008:436).

The purpose of using open-ended questions in the interview guide is that it let the respondents reflect on their own past and emphasize on issues of importance to themselves. In particular, semi-structured interview designs permits a great flexibility by following a certain research-structure, but also allows the researcher to analyse, discuss and evaluate new data put forward during the interview. Clifford & Valentine (2003) comment that in order to understand individuals being interviewed in cultural situations, the researcher should either use a semi-structured or an in-depth approach. Even if these methods are time consuming, they allow for more profound and detailed understanding of the complex processes involved.

The selected methods allowed in particular sensitive topics of social inclusion/exclusion in forest certifications to be examined. For example, some of the respondents spoke about problems with health issues, abuse, discrimination and being threatened to lose their jobs. However, this was normally only achieved after a trusting relationship had been built. Furthermore, information of a more sensitive nature emerged from respondents that were interviewed multiple times. This information would likely have been overlooked with a more structured approach. It was of great concern to use methods which can capture the viewpoints of individuals without putting them in any difficult situation, as dismissal for union activity still is a present feature in the Indonesian labour movement (ITUC, 2011). In the same context, one can point out that over 90 people were killed only in 2010 based on union belonging (ITUC, 2011). The respondents were informed at the beginning of the interview that their participation was voluntary, that the interview was anonymous, and that they could ask any question before, during or after the interview and decide not to answer any question if they wished to.


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With the above discussion in mind, the decision was made not to use any type of recording device. An argument in favour of using a tape recorder is that it makes a review of the interviews possible at a later stage to clear out eventual uncertainties, and hence, can reduce the risk of misconception.

However, due to the mentioned sensitive nature of this study, and to ensure that the respondents felt confident that the interviews were made in seclusion, their responses were written down by hand and later that same day, transcribed when the interview was still fresh in mind. Names were normally not recorded during the interviews, with the exception of some union officials who declined to be anonymous.

The plant officials were in general much more outspoken and familiar of their rights at work than the rest of the workforce, and showed no concerns standing by their statements. Nevertheless, to be consistent, no real names of any of the respondents will be used in the text. To ensure the anonymity and security to all of the respondents, quotes and statements from the individual interviews as well as the field notes will not be explicitly presented in an appendice. The decision to withhold such information is only done as an extra precaution for the safety of the respondents. Instead, the respondents will simply be named as ‘a contractor’ or ‘a female permanent worker’ for example. When the objective is to gain rich, detailed answers from the respondents, Bryman (2008:436), describes how it may be of interest to interview the respondents on several occasions. In this study, the average interview lasted between one and a half and two hours. Nevertheless, some interviews spanned over three hours and on other occasions, the same respondent was visited several times and for longer periods. For instance, a male worker was visited at his home on numerous occasions due to his medical conditions and his problems to be granted accurate sick leave from the company. He was followed to the hospital for two days and due to the severity of his medical conditions, his medication was arranged and paid for by the researcher. Communication and trust between respondents and researcher is even more important to establish in a cross cultural setting. In order to communicate in a fluent manner, an independent translator was arranged to accompany all the interviews. He was fluent in English, Bahasa Indonesia and had a profound understanding of local dialects. To converse through a translator have both positive and less positive functions. On a positive note, only two of the respondents did speak English and it was therefore vital to use a translator. Further, valuable knowledge of local norms, traditional and cultural barriers could be followed and understood. A less positive consequence is that it is time consuming. The translator had to translate the respondent’s answers back in English, and control questions were used to determine whether the translator had understood the questions correctly. Such an example could be; can you ask if the family has had any problems with their health or


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have had any work related accidents? If the answer was no, the family might have been asked to mention the last time they had an accident, or the last time they visited the health service or the hospital, and why. This in particular proved to be demanding for both the translator and the respondents, and on some occasions, the interview was followed up later when the quality of the interview was not consistent. A great deal of time was also invested into training the translator to comprehend the questions and to make sure that he understood them accurately and consequently trying to reduce the risk of misunderstandings between all parties. In addition, observations from the field were made complementary to the interviews. It provided valuable information on for example cooperation between the plant union and the management, the plant union and the local government and the respondents’ living standards (access to water, sanitary, etc).

3.3 Sampling methods and the selection of respondents Bryman (2008:458), describes that it is “sometimes more or less impossible to discern from researchers’ account of their methods either how their interviewees were selected or how many there were of them”. He argues that the need for transparency is especially important for the sampling process. With these important points in mind, beneath follows a detailed account of the sampling methods and the selection process of respondents. This fieldwork consisted of a combined approach adapted after two of the best known sampling methods in qualitative research, purposive and snowball sampling. In purposive sampling, the objective is to “attempt to establish a good correspondence between research question and sampling” (Bryman, 2008:458). At first, potential respondents who could assist in answering the research questions were identified. In this context, permanent and contract workers in the plymill, plant union officials and villagers in the forest concession area were recognised. Stakeholders from these groups were then identified with the assistance of the plant union, and in a few cases, with the support of the translator. Five of the main plant union officials were interviewed on a number of occasions as they had direct insight into which individuals that worked for the company. Further, they provided a background for their union strategies, and described the situation for workers inside the plymill and forest concession area. By interviewing these key individuals, who are active in implementing the unions’ strategies since the FSC CoC certificate was put into practice, the objective was to gain insight into what part the


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union had in improving working conditions and workers’ rights. Another four interviews were held with plant union officials, and two group discussions with respectively eighteen and ten plant union officials were also completed. In the group interviews, a more informal approach was used, as the idea was to stimulate to discussion amongst the union officials. The majority of the interviews were made with permanent and contract workers employed in the plymill factory. The purpose of these interviews was to gain in-depth information on how different individuals identified and perceived social development since the certification. The interviews were mainly conducted in the homes of the respondents, and in a few cases in a hotel, when the respondents lived inside the factory’s premises. Thus, a total of six permanent and six contractors, female and male, union members and non-members, were interviewed who worked in the factory’s plymill. As mentioned above in the text, a snowball sampling method was used, aiming to balance the purposive sampling. For this reason, previous respondents or knowledgeable persons were asked to name potential respondents for which there was no sampling frame. This resulted in interviews with one replanting officer, two village heads and four individuals from a village within the forest concession area. Other detected hidden populations were three previous workers who had either retired or changed their jobs. Importantly for this study, a large number of sub-contractors who worked in the plymill but were employed by a subcontracting agency were identified. Seven subcontractors were interviewed, and further, the responsible individual for the subcontracting agency was also interviewed. Additionally, three informal discussions via email were conducted with the concerned third party auditors from SmartWood, SCS and FSC. These discussions had a two folded aim; to understand how they had worked to assess social aspects during the certification process and, where relevant, to comprehend how they are planning to implement the new standards in FSC’s CoC certification from 2012. Moreover, two discussions with experienced Kahutindo and BWI representatives were held to receive insight into their view on labour issues and union strategies in forest certification.


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3.4 Dilemmas and considerations in the field The original plan was altered when the first FSC certified company determined to opt out a few weeks before the scheduled start of the study. This was, according to Kahutindo’s representatives, down to the concerned company being in the stage of renewing their FSC certificates and experiencing some problems in the reassessment process. For this particular reason, a company with a logging concession since several decades back in Kalimantan as well as a plymill factory was approached. The management of the plymill was contacted several times for interviews in order to balance the study, but all requests were declined. Further, an appeal to visit the company’s forest concession area in order to speak to employed forest workers was turned down. On a similar basis, access to the plymill premises was refused, making any observations inside the factory impossible. Several other problems were accounted through the research process. The initial purpose was to focus on both the plymill workers and the forest workers in the forest concession area. The arrangement had to be alternated as warning about the precarious conditions outside the remote forest concession was given by locals and likewise by the plant union officials. However, these prospective problems were resolved by going through informal channels. The plant union arranged interviews with different respondents from the plymill at the homes of the respondents after working hours on the request from the researcher. Previous forest workers who had worked in the forest concession were identified and interviewed. Villages inside the forest concession area were visited as a proportion of the indigenous population continues to be employed on a day-to-day basis in the replanting area, even though the logging has ended in the district.

A methodological dilemma important to mention was the close contact with the plant union. One plant union official attended a large proportion of the interviews. Since the core concepts discussed did not concern the interviewee’s opinion of the unions work per se, but instead their perspective of social development and their working conditions, it was viewed as of minor importance. In the opposite, many respondents spoke more freely when the union official was attending the meeting (both in positive and negative terms) as they knew each other from the work in the plymill factory. Lastly, it can be mentioned that a number of people (around ten individuals) were afraid to partake in interviews as they were scared to lose their jobs. Others declined (primarily permanent workers) as they expressed concerns that the information might lead to that the plymill factory was closed down.


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3.5 The coding of the field data Hsieh and Shannon define qualitative content analysis as “a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of patterns” (2005:1278). According to Wildemuth and Zhang, a qualitative content analysis:

“… goes beyond merely counting words or extracting objective content from texts to examine meanings, themes and patterns that may be manifest or latent in a particular text. It allows researchers to understand social reality in a subjective but scientific manner“ (Wildemuth & Zhang, 2009:1).

Rendering to Bryman (2008:283), the coding of the data is an essential step in the process of a qualitative content analysis. In this thesis, the inspiration and assistance in the coding of the collected data arise from grounded theory. It permitted the data to be coded, conceptualised and categorised. The goal was to identify:

“…important themes or categories within a body of content, and to provide a rich description of the social reality created by those themes/categories as they are lived out in a particular setting” (Wildemuth & Zhang 2009:11).

The discovery of theory from data, which Glaser and Strauss call grounded theory, suits empirical situations whilst studying social phenomena, as it provides relevant predictions and explications (2009). In short, it is a general methodology for developing theory that is grounded in collected and predominantly qualitative data.

This method is very attractive for this research, as it allows for central components behind forest certification to come to light through empirical data, whilst regular patterns and relations between different components are made explicit in a methodical way. This was especially relevant for this thesis, as the coding was carried out with the approach of political ecology in mind, disclosing how an environmental governance system such as forest certification, influences both people and natural resources. The approach facilitated an understanding of how environmental problems and political influences interrelate to assist both social and environmental transformations.

In the processing of the data, the software NVivo was used. According to Wildemuth and Zhang (2009:7), NVivo assists in the organising, managing and the coding of qualitative data in an effective manner. Firstly, initial key categories were identified such as ‘rights at work’ and ‘employment security’ and these categories were further created with ILO’s decent work agenda in mind. Different concepts were distinguished in the data based on the category and assembled into different groups, such as ‘provided work training’ and ‘safety and health issues at work’. From these concepts,


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sequences of codes were used to make the stakeholders’ statements more practical to analyse. In the concept of ‘safety and health issues’, codes could be given to ‘work related injuries and accidents’, ‘provided protective equipment’, or ‘improvements in employment security’. The coding of the data (in this case the summarising and structuring), turned out to be a dynamic process. The codes and concepts were adapted on several occasions into other groups. Furthermore, particular attention was given to make the different categories, concepts and codes as exclusive and exhaustive as possible to avoid intersection problems.

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4. Forest Certification and sustainability

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4. Forest Certification and sustainability This chapter elucidates the connection between forest degradation, forest certification and social sustainability issues in forestry. Besides this, it presents the most important concepts used. It provides a short introduction to FSC. Last but not least, the chapter describes FSC’s two main certifications, the FM and the CoC. At the end, the arguments for and against the inclusion of social standards in FSC’s CoC are discussed.

4.1 Deforestation and the link to social sustainability Even if today’s concern over forest degradation and deforestation is causing vivid debates in media and the scientific world, similar concerns range back as far as to 300 BC. An anxious philosopher, named Mencius, became the first known author to write about an alarmingly high deforestation rate in his native China (Waley 1939 in Gadow et al., 2000).

In the later part of the 1800s, during the seize of North Americas’ west, Euro-Americans cleared large areas of forest to build prairie houses for the colonisers. Even more prominently, a vast part of the country was deforested as thousands of miles of railroads across the west were used to enable a swift means of transportation. At the same time, trees were cut in a rapid pace for other infrastructure and communication means, such as telegraph poles (Knobloch, 1996). Already in 1907, Gifford Pinchot published an article called ‘The Use of the National Forests’ where he described how the public ‘used’ forest resources in a taken for granted matter. Forests were something to be used up, an imperishable object where little thought was given to future needs. Pinchot questioned how the West American landscape would look twenty five years later with innumerable new homes on the way to be built, a heftily growing agricultural sector and the manufacturing industry on the raise. Pinchot predicted that the demand upon natural resources would become even more important, and therefore, even harder to obtain in the future. Therefore, he advocated a practise for conserving the forests by using them wisely at present in order for them to remain for future generations to come (Pinchot, 1907). Pinchot’s work is today recognised for reforming the American forest management into a conservational oriented management and for connecting human wellbeing and needs to natural resources, such as forests.

In present day, unsustainable logging practices and over logging remains a major threat to tropical forest biodiversity (UNFCCC, 2001). Grace (2004:195), for instance,


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describes “Deforestation of the humid tropics is a relatively recent phenomenon, as well as threatening the rich diversity of species and the lives of indigenous people”.

The expressions deforestation and forest degradation are often used as synonymous. However, they effect the state of the forests in two different ways. The United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), defines deforestation as the direct, human-induced conversion of forest land to non-forest land (UNFCCC, 2001). Forest degradation, however, does not involve a reduction of the forest area, but indicates a swift decrease in the forest’s condition (Lanly, 2003). Even so, why have deforestation and forest degradation become such debated topics in recent decades, even in discussions about social sustainability?

The first definition of sustainable development was made In the World Commission on Environment and Development report ‘Our Common Future’. “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987:43). It includes two ideas. The first concept prioritises the needs of the poorest people in the world. The second concept builds upon the notion of a restriction of the environment’s ability to meet both present and future needs. Criticizers accuse the WCED definition of being too diffuse (Lélé, 1991). Adams (2006) however, declares that disregarding the vagueness of the description, it does indeed incorporate two of the main dilemmas. To start with, it addresses concerns over environmental degradation in connection to economical growth, and besides that, the need of economic augmentation to reduce poverty. In theory, UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) argues that new, designed strategies, need to replace current destructive practices. These new strategies have to enclose vital human needs; food, water, jobs and energy, whilst guaranteeing both an improvement and a conservation of natural resources. This includes three objectives: environmental protection, social progress and economical growth, all three considered necessary parts for the path to sustainability. The notion of ‘social sustainability’ remains problematic to define. It does, on the other hand:

“…often refer to aspects such as social welfare, quality of life, social justice, social cohesion, cultural diversity, democratic rights, gender issues, workers’ rights, broad participation, development of social capital and individual capabilities and the like. Accordingly, it appears difficult to delimit and define what social sustainability is. Furthermore, the more one includes within the frame of social sustainability, the more difficult it becomes to understand what it is, much less to achieve it” (Boström, 2010:9).

Hence, the connecting link between the need of a sustainable forestry and social sustainability is relatively straightforward to make.


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4.1.1 Sustainable Forest Management and Certification

The concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) derives from human anxiety about deforestation, global warming and influences on the world’s ecosystems. One, well-recognised and accepted definition of SFM is:

“The stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems” (FAO, 2005:3).

After the Rio Earth Summit (UNCED) in 1992, a set of criteria and indicators emerged to evaluate the accomplishments of SFM. The United Nations Forum on Forests (2004) included seven broad groups deemed necessary for a sustainable forestry. These groups included; I, Biological diversity, II, Extent of forest resources, III, Forest health and vitality, IV, Productive functions and forest resources, V, Protective functions of forest resources, VI, Socio-economic functions and VII, Legal, policy and institutional frameworks.

SFM aims to change unsustainable land-use practises in an area, by transforming them into sustainable performances where “The economic logic of SFM builds on the basic premise that forests are managed for continuous, long-term production” (Wunder, 2006:1). A significant amount of funding has flown into conservational projects in the tropics, aiming to change current land-uses to more sustainable arrangements (Wunder, 2006). In theory, this is viable by paring sustainable use of forests with economical incentives, such as increased incomes. In reality, to assess if a forest is managed sustainably would take centuries (FERN, 2001).

The correct extent of SFM is difficult to demarcate due to the concept’s development with time (DAFF, 2011). Having said that, several different policy frameworks exist. The frameworks’ designs include national policies, regional agreements, internationally recognised frameworks (e.g. Agenda 21), and independent governance frameworks, for example forest certifications (DAFF, 2011).

The governance framework allows each certification body to create its own institutional framework, with negotiation, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to measure the progress towards SFM. To date, more than 50 forest certification standards exist in the world. As a result, there exists no solitary globally accepted forest management standard. Instead, each separate certification body creates its own approach to define sustainability (for example; FSC, PEFC, SFI). The two most prominent are FSC and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC).


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Nonetheless, FSC is widely considered the most rigorous scheme due to its global span and social clauses (Taylor, 2004). Karmann and Smith describe that an:

“Impact can be categorized according to the level at which it is being measured (within and/or be-yond the forest management unit, within one country, region ect.). Impacts can be achieved with intention or unin-tended” (Karmann & Smith, 2009:21).

Furthermore, an impact can either be positive or negative, depending on, for instance, different stakeholders’ perspectives (Humphries & Kainer, 2006).

While, some authors stress SFM’s importance for economic functions, (Wunder, 2006), others stress the ecological incentives (Adger et al., 2001). However, ILO (2001) claims that SFM ultimately should be about people. When neglecting the social functions of forests, one makes it impossible to meet SFM initial objectives (ILO, 2001). Social and labour aspects alike need to be more in focus to balance the current bias towards ecological and economic functions (ILO, 2001:78). Meidinger summarises the current discussion in forestry as this:

“In the forest certification arena, most if not all actors embrace the value of “sustainable forest management.” The question is, what constitutes sustainable forest management? There is considerable disagreement with regard to this question, as some groups promote more environmentally protective standards while others promote less protective ones, some promote community oriented standards while others promote industry oriented ones, and so on” (2003:277).

With the presented discussion in mind, a closer look will now be devoted to the world’s most renowned forest certification system, FSC.

4.1.2 The case of the Forest Stewardship Council

Influential environmental NGOs, such as the World Wide Fund (WWF) and Rainforest Alliances, helped to launch the FSC in 1993 (Overdevest, 2010). The formation of FSC, which came as a response over failures to institute intergovernmental procedures on the global forest scene, had the purpose to address the regulation of global forestry (Cashore et al., 2004). As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, FSC representatives come from social and environmental organisation. In attendance are people from the forest industry, from indigenous communities and from forest certification organisations. The


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establishment enables alliances to form between the wood industry, environmental organisations, trade unions and forest product users (Taylor, 2004).

Originally an environmental governance system (Overdevest, 2010), nowadays FSC’s mission is to “promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests” (Karmann & Smith, 2009:3). FSC’s organisation, the leading forest certification system based on independent third party verification, has had a rapid expansion. As of October 2011, 144 million ha of forest worldwide is under the FSC system, with 1065 FSC-approved certifications found in 79 different countries (FSC, 2011a).

FSC has two main certifications relevant for this study, with two very different purposes. The first is a Forest Management certification (FM), which operates on 10 principles and criteria (P&C) and refers to the forest management unit i.e. the forest. These fundamental standards, intend to transform companies’ unsustainable practises into more sustainable performances and can be applied to any forest in the world (Overdevest, 2010). The second certification, the Chain of Custody (CoC) certification, permits FSC to track the timber through the whole supply chain, from the forest until it reaches the consumers (Overdevest, 2010). The certification guarantees that a certain amount of the wood arrives from an ecologically sustainable logging. A dedicated forest operator perusing an FSC certification needs to complete an assessment to earn the right to use FSC’s label. The two certifications enable customers to identify products that arrive from a sustainable forest origin, rather than from untenable sources (FSC, 2011a).

FSC certification has been especially prosperous in North America and Europe, with almost 57 million ha and 62 million ha of certified forest respectively. The rapid growth of FSC in the last 10 years allowed FSC to establish itself on the international market. Klooster writes that:

“FSC-certified forest products comprise an estimated $5 billion of sales, with especially strong market penetration in the United Kingdom, Germany, and especially the Dutch timber market, where it holds approximately 12 percent, valued at approximately US$420 million” (2008:57).

The situation on the Asian market remains more modest, with less than 5 million ha of forests under FSC’s system (FSC, 2011a). In Indonesia, merely 800 000 ha of an estimated 98 million ha of forest is certified. Out of this, 11 companies hold either an FM, or an FM and a CoC certification. A higher number of companies choose FSC’s CoC certification, with 170 registered and approved companies in 2011 (FSC, 2011a).


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Bass et al., observes the organisations progression, from FSC’s initial focus on forest degradation and deforestation, towards a:

‘‘Buyer driven preoccupation with delivering large quantities of certified wood products, which has naturally led to a focus on those big producers who already have well managed forests and can readily supply the produce’’ (2001:86).

However, FSC does not issue any of the certificates themselves. Instead, an FSC accredited, independent, third-party certification body controls, monitors and authorises the certificates to FSC’s standards (Karmann & Smith, 2009). SmartWood, the auditor firm for FSC is run by Rainforest Alliances and conducts FSC’s FM certification. SmartWood uses qualified assessors, from both the North and the South, to determine the ecological and social aspects of the forest operator. The staff, natural resource professionals, receives training in the fields of ecology, forestry and social sciences. Another certification body that performs FSC’s CoC certification, is Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a for profit, global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability certification and auditing (SCS, 2011). Also SCS uses trained professionals, from both North and South, to follow the certification protocol geared up by FSC. In the FSC system, disagreements now and then arise between different stakeholders, for instance, amongst forest operators, indigenous people and workers.

A stakeholder, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a person with an interest in, or who has a concern in a particular matter. It denotes a type of organisation, or system, “…in which all members or participants are seen as having an interest in its success”. It is relevant in this context to distinguish whom to consider a stakeholder in FSC systems. FSC identifies social stakeholders as small or low-intensity producers, community producers, forest workers, people affected by FSC certified forest operations and indigenous people (FSC, 2011b). FSC’s definition excludes, for example, wood workers in the processing chain.

When stakeholders notice a socially or environmentally unsustainable practice, FSC encourages them to contact the company, which “… can take and imple-ment appropriate corrective actions” (Karmann & Smith, 2009:111). If the problem persists, stakeholders can contact the certification body, who then has to “…investigate and report its findings.” If the problem continues, it can lead to either a suspension or a termination of the certificates (Karmann & Smith, 2009:111). Nevertheless, certification bodies will not adamantly demand that companies impeccably meet all P&C, but rather that they strive to improve their operations (FSC, 1996).


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4.1.2.1 Forest Management Certification The Forest Management certification solely applies to the forest concession area, with the exception of when the certified company’s factories are inside the boundaries of the logging concession. Companies must follow FSC’s 10 P&C (Table 1, & Appendices I) which address social, economical and ecological aspects, and which are applicable to tropical, temperate and boreal forests alike (FSC, 1996). Furthermore, the 10 P&C not only apply to forests, but also to plantations and partially replanted forests and should:

“…be used in conjunction with national and international laws and regulations. FSC intends to complement, not supplant, other initiatives that support responsible forest management worldwide” (FSC, 1996:4).

Forest managers must commit to certification audits every 5 years, and further, agree to have annual surveillance audits, in order to mark their products with the FSC label. The published audit reports facilitate an open, translucent way to avoid problems with ambiguity (Overdevest, 2010). Several of FSC’s P&C pay attention to social conditions and benefits for workers and indigenous people. Most prominent are principle 1, 2, 3 and 4.

1 Compliance with laws and FSC Principles 2 Tenure and use rights and responsibilities 3 Indigenous peoples' rights 4 Community relations and worker's rights 5 Benefits from the forest 6 Environmental impact 7 Management plan 8 Monitoring and assessment 9 Maintenance of high conservation value forests 10 Plantations Table 1. FSC’s 10 Principles and Criteria

Source; FSC, 1996.

Principle 1, of a rather general condition, requires companies to follow all national laws and international treaties and agreements of the specific country. Further, the forest manager must comply with all binding ILO Conventions. Principle 2 covers tenure and user rights. It addresses tenure and use rights for, for example, local communities. Principle 3 describes indigenous peoples’ rights. Indigenous peoples shall have the legal and customary right to own, use and manage their own land, and these people shall


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receive compensation for their efforts when assisting the forest manager. Furthermore, cultural, ecological, economical and religious sites of importance for indigenous peoples shall be recognize and protected (FSC, 1996). Principle 4 handles community relations and workers’ rights. This principle aspires to maintain and enhance the long-term social and economic welfare of both forest workers and local communities. Employment opportunities shall be given to community members, safety and health shall be guaranteed for workers and their families and the labourers shall have the right to join and form trade unions. The forest managers need to consult with those affected by their operations, and in the case of loss or damage of any sort, steady measures should be taken to solve and avoid such incidents (FSC 1996, Kruedener 2000:16). Even though some of the principles first can seem fundamental, according to FSC this is where the certification can have its greatest positive impact. For instance, by a company starting to provide safety equipment for the staff, or respecting and involving local communities in the decisions that affect the forest (FSC, 2011c). SmartWood, the certification body that approved the researched company’s FM certification, developed its own set of standards in accordance with FSC requirements (Rainforest Alliance, 2009).

“In the standard, each FSC principle and its associated criteria is stated, along with the SmartWood generic indicators. All criteria in all principles must be evaluated in every assessment; unless certain principles are deemed not applicable by SmartWood auditors” (Rainforest Alliances, 2009:3).

Some noticeable differences can be distinguished between SmartWood’s and FSC’s principles. SmartWood, formulates in detail how “Local communities and residents shall be given equal or preferential opportunities in forest management activities in terms of employment, training, and provision of supplies to FME, and other benefits or opportunities” (Rainforest Alliances, 2009:7).

Wages and other settlements (health, retirement, workers’ compensation, housing, food) for both, full-time staff, as well as for contractors, shall be consistent with existing local standards (see appendices II). Importantly, for social safety and the well-being of the workforce, SmartWood standards demand that:

“Workers (staff and contractors) shall be provided with safety equipment in good working order, appropriate to the tasks of workers and the equipment used (e.g. local norms are important, ideally the following: hard hats, hearing protection, high visibility vests, steel toe boots and chainsaw proof chaps)” (Rainforest Alliances, 2009:7).


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In the context of FSC, their standards foremost concern the outcomes rather than the system itself, “…and so the focus is on the way an individual working in a forest is treated, rather than the system (employee or contractor) which delivers the treatment” (Nussbaum, 2001:3).

4.1.2.2 Chain of Custody Certification

FSC’s Chain of Custody differs in scope from the Forest Management certification. For instance, the 10 P&C, which make up the foundation for sustainable forestry practises, have no bearing in the CoC. Instead, the CoC refers to the generic process of tracking the wood throughout the whole supply chain. Hence, the “Chain-of-Custody auditing is the second major component of forest management certification, complementing a forest assessment” (Donovan et al., 2006:68). Thus, the certification acts as a binding commitment of a sustainable wood source, as it provides the link between the forest of origin, and an identifiable wood product at the point of sale (Overdevest, 2010).

The CoC auditing may include inspections at the forest operator, the sort yard, the sawmill, the plymill, the primary and secondary manufacturer, the importer and exporter, the wholesaler, and the retailer (Donovan et al., 2006). In addition, Taylor describes the complexity of the wood commodity chain, as it “…can involve hundreds of individual companies, many stages of processing and transportation and multiple changes in production ownership” (2004:135). Standards exist for CoC tracking, but only to ensure that products carrying the FSC logo actually originate from a certified forestry operation. This is a critical element, as it enables the connection from the producer to the consumer. Donovan, describes it as a way to advance credible certification systems, and writes that:

“The desire by consumers to assure themselves that the wood or the other forest products they sell or purchase are from well-manged sources is one of the key motives underlying attempts to develop credible certification systems. In this context, if the consumer seeks assurance, the responsible producer provides this assurance through a certificate stating that the product does indeed derive from a certified, well-managed forest (Donovan, 1996:68)


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4.1.2.3 Exclusion of social standards in the Chain of Custody Even if FSC’s core social values both support and facilitate the legal recognition of workers’ rights, these values have only applied to the FM, and not to the CoC certification (FSC 2007, Karmann & Smith 2009).

Relatively few workers are involved in forestry (FM), in comparison to workers employed in woodworking, furniture or plywood industries (CoC). Hence, to call for, and enforce labour standards in forest operations, whilst turning a blind eye to working conditions in wood working factories seems peculiar to Boström (2010). Karmann & Smith (2009:84) mention how different groups and observers, with high expectation, challenge FSC to advance their social commitments even more. In essence, whilst FSC’s certification auditors ought to keep an eye on working conditions, it is only to eliminate potential worst-case scenarios of negligence i.e. the certification auditors have no duty to survey labour conditions (Karmann & Smith, 2009:18).

The exclusion of social values not only causes attention amongst trade unions, (BWI, Kahutindo), but also within academia (Boström, 2010) and within FSC’s own organisation (Karmann & Smith 2009, FSC 2007). Two of the most debated areas concern FSC’s responsibilities and how far these responsibilities stretch. FSC’s scope, obligations and their practical implications remain diffuse, especially in the context of human capital. Voices inside FSC query what message the organisation sends to social-conscious companies, when they do not impose ILO’s Core conventions throughout the whole supply chain. Furthermore, fundamental human rights, such as child labour exclusion and safety at work, do not transpire the whole way through the certification chain (FSC, 2007). They argue that it can damage FSC’s image, if for instance, working conditions in certified factories resemble those found in Nike’s factories.

Others raise questions of how far the social responsibility of FSC, and certified companies, should span. Social amendments equals induced costs, that have to be borne by the certified company, perhaps scaring away pre-existing and potential clients. On a supplementary note, some query if, in fact, there exists at all a demand to raise the social bar (Karmann & Smith, 2009). Karmann & Smith highlight the whole discussion on social exclusion in the CoC, when they note;

“While it has been argued that chain of custody ecological and social issues are not within FSC's primary mission of forestry management, the ethical case for treating this has been made. Moreover, there is also a convincing argument that FSC's brand credibility is at risk to a 'Nike' style expose of dreadful environmental and/or working conditions in factories manufacturing products which carry FSC chain of custody certificates“ (2009:18).


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4.1.2.4 Raising the social bar in FSC’s Chain of Custody After ten years of extensive discussions, whether or not to include social standards into the CoC audit, it was finally agreed upon by FSC.

The subject, initially discussed at FSC’s annual conference in Mexico in 2000, resulted in the inclusion of some of the activities in FSC’s Social Strategy of 2003 (Karmann & Smith, 2009:17). In 2005, FSC approved a study to assess how realistic and practical a future social inclusion could be. In 2009, FSC consented to a Policy for the Association of Organization with FSC (see appendice III). The policy states that FSC will not associate with any organisation, which either directly or indirectly, involves itself in intolerable practises. This can be a company which violates either traditional or human rights in forestry, or which violates any of the ILO Core conventions.

The Policy for the Association of Organization was later adapted into a revisited version of FSC’s Standards for CoC certification (FSC-STD-40-004 V2-1, see appendice IV). This revisited CoC standards also stipulate that organisations shall demonstrate their commitment to Occupational Safety and Health (FSC, 2011c). Therefore, both new and old companies, must from 1st October 2012, demonstrate their commitments to the new social standards.

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5. Trade unions: the pursuit for social justice

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5. Trade unions: the pursuit for social justice The chapter has three distinct parts. The first part focuses on trade unions and their evolvement into a new form of environmental actors. It further centres on their connections to Forest Certification and SFM. The second part illustrates why trade unions have an interest in environmental issues. It connects globalisation with problems with outsourcing and safety and health issues present in the wood industry. The third section describes the instruments trade unions use in order to augment their members’ rights. The focus is therefore on ILO’s Core conventions and decent work agenda.

5.1 Current economic and social context The end of President Soeharto’s ‘New Order’ (1966-1998) in 1998, denoted the end of a system of authoritarian rule and marked the start of what has been called the reformation period, the ‘reformasi’. The new government structure enabled free elections and a democratisation took place within the Indonesian society. Both electoral politics and political parties were able to advance in a climate of free political competition, without internal interference (Manning & Van Diermen 2000, Hadiz 2003). Although the economical crisis in 1999 stroke hard upon civil society, social progression inside Indonesia’s society did not let itself wait. NGOs, political parties, trade unions and community groups alike “…began to play a much more active role in society than at any time in the previous 30 years” (Manning & Van Diermen, 2000:1). Under the new reformasi period, workers could join and form trade unions. Furthermore, the new government ratified the 87th ILO Convention of Freedom of Association and protection of the Right to Organize.

On the other hand, the Indonesian transition economy clearly faced many economical challenges resulting from the Asian economical crisis. One of the major problems threatening the social reform was a reduction in employment opportunities. The previously high export related manufacturing went into a decline, and as a result led to job prospects becoming scarce. Larger, manufacturing oriented, export driven companies faced economical difficulties and cutbacks were unavoidable. As employment opportunities shrunk, the economic situation made itself felt in society. Consequently, the effect of declining employment opportunities at large-scale enterprises in urban areas was a shift of workers into the informal sector, mainly in rural areas. At this time period, many women, empowered by their new political rights from the


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reformasi, accessed the workforce. The result however made a turn towards the worse in work security, as lower pay checks and shorter work contracts became the norm.

“Thus, as part of this process, there has been a shift in the nature of work from full-time to casual jobs. Such measures provide greater flexibility for businesses to respond to fluctuations in demand, but they also increases job insecurity” (Manning & Van Diermen, 2000:9).

To facilitate the “…huge elements of reforms in a short period…”, Indonesia’s government decided to privatise several sectors, and further, to allocate a large number of social assistance to its citizens (Sumarto, 2007:57). Most notably, social security nets, food guarantees, social protection, education and health services.

5.2 Trade unions; role and development Trade unions are major global actors in civil society. A trade union, or a labour union (in American English), is according to Baker & Mckenzie:

“…an organization of workers with the purpose of protecting, defending, and advancing the rights and interests of its members and their families, and increasing their welfare. The employees of a single company or employees from different companies can establish a union” (2009:134).

The term ‘business unionism’ does not incline that trade unions are, normal, for profit businesses. Instead, a trade union’s purpose is to act in its members’ interest. The focal points mainly are salaries, work hours, safety and health at work, equality at work and the implementation of workers’ rights (Rees, 1989). Both national and international treaties and legislations protect the right for trade unions to exercise freedom of speech in peaceful protests. Another well-known union tool is collective bargaining. According to ILO (2011b), collective bargaining takes place between one or many employers’ organisations, and one or many workers’ organisations. Its purpose, of a dual nature, provides a means for negotiations over salary and working conditions. Furthermore, it allows workers and employers to delineate the terms and conditions that preside over their association together. The term ’work relation’, explains the association that exists between workers and employers (Tambusai, 2005).


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Coining the phrase ‘sword of justice’ in the 1970s, Flanders argued that unions, in fact, have two very different faces (1970:15). On one hand, unions have a strong self-interest, a sort of ‘vested interest’. On the other hand, trade unions’ actions are those made with a ‘sword of justice’. For their continued existence, trade unions must act both in their own interest, but at the same time struggle to augment their members’ rights. Hence, trade unions have an inherent structural difference to, for instance, other social movements such as human rights NGOs. Whilst trade unions peruse social justice in an interest-driven way and have obligations towards their members, human rights NGOs are ideal-driven (Braun & Gearhart, 2004).

5.2.1 Trade unions facing the future With especially heavy membership declines in the 1980s and 1990s, many trade unions lost their prior economical and political influence. At this time, a new production structure took place, where corporations moved their production to cheaper production countries abroad. The new economical restructuring and the influence of internationalised economies meant a decrease in government influence over the public sector. With the public sector’s retreat, the private sector thrived (Fairbrother, 2000). Susan George (1999) describes in ‘A short history of Neoliberalism’, the rapid privatisation and major economic transformations of the past thirty years. Free trade in goods and services, free circulation of capital and freedom of investment are all catchphrases symbolising this economical transformation. George argues that “we should stop talking about privatisation and use words that tell the truth: we are talking about alienation and surrender of the product of decades of work by thousands of people to a tiny minority of large investors” (1999:1). George’s main argument is that anyone, at any time, can be evicted from such a system. The expulsion can be down to illness, age, pregnancy or because of economical circumstances. Trade unions’ preceding powers have hence strongly diminished in recent decades. Long gone are traditional employment patterns, and a new, more competitive oriented organisation of workers emerges, transforming the traditional union approaches (Forastieri 1999, Western 1995). Hyde & Ressaissi (2010), identified a deteriorating unionisation, and connected it to the rapid globalisation and liberalisation of trade. In the prevailing, neo-liberal environment, unions countenance many problems, arriving from declining membership numbers and loss in state support (Boxall & Haynes, 1997:568). To gain competitive market advantages and to reduce production costs, many companies moved abroad. In hindsight, all these components meant that trade unions were faced with many difficult circumstances, lost members and had to adapt their operations. “The implications of these developments and the prospects for union renewal


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are reviewed with reference to the changing pattern of trade unionism” (Fairbrother, 2000:11). The recent developments made many unions “…extending their capacities in relation to environmental concerns and in the process are refocusing their purpose”, something Fairbrother & Snell (2010:411) brand “union renewal”. In this context, unions must make carefully prepared decisions, with considerations to both workers and employer relations (Boxall & Haynes, 1997). For their continuity, it is seen as idea to collaborate with other unions and organisations, and thus “pursuing alliances with worker support organizations outside the union movement” (Hyde & Ressaissi, 2010:2). Barrientos & Smith (2007) argue that ethical and environmental considerations increasingly are becoming a natural part of trade unions’ work. At the same time, they consider that unions are more global in their approach. BWI for example, claims that ”traditional unionists need to be convinced of the need to participate in environmental protection as a way of projecting the profile of the trade union and striking agreements of tripartite partners” (BWI, 2006:14).

5.2.2 FSC, assisting more traditonal union approches On a historical note, trade unions’ attendance to environmental problems spins over a long period, most notably, in relation to safety and health issues at work. In present day society, unions’ roles as environmental actors are more evident and outspoken, creating for instance connections and cooperation with forest certification systems (Fairbrother & Snell, 2010). These collaborations provide an important impetus for collective action. The input from trade unions on mainly social aspects is of especial interest in forest certification systems. According to BWI, government in outsourcing countries, for one reason or another, do not put enough pressure on multinational companies to follow labour laws and regulations (BWI, 2006). Trade unions are concerned about a downward spiral in labour standards, which manifests itself in poor employment conditions in global production systems (Fairbrother & Snell, 2010:412). BWI for instance, uses legislative framework and FSC certification to augment working conditions and establish strong relationships to both FSC and governments.

Strong partnerships develop as unions, governments, NGOs and forest certification systems work together. FSC, for instance, seeks “a strong partnership with unions…” and “…regularly attend BWI seminars in strategic parts of the world to explain to unionist the value of forest management certification as a tool to enhance workers’ conditions” (Karmann & Smith, 2009:86). On a similar note, in 2008, BWI affiliated trade unions presented a motion at FSC’s general assembly, requesting FSC to include


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ILO’s Core conventions in all of their certifications. In response, FSC adopted BWI’s motion.

However, BWI stresses that several challenges with social aspects still remain in FSC certification. Karmann and Smith (2003:86) illustrate in their report an essential argument made by Gill Bowling (2003). Bowling states that “experience has shown that timber is being sold with a label that has been produced in factories where less than adequate labor standards exist” (2003:xx). The problem is of some importance, as the FSC certification does not address the challenge of the increase in sub-contracting throughout their whole production chain (BWI, 2008).

To recapitulate, forest certification is not likely to ever replace the more traditional trade union approaches, such as collective bargaining (Bowling, 2003). Concerns for the safety and health of contract workers stand out as “probably the biggest concern for both certification bodies and trade unions…” as companies’ workers often are” …largely unskilled, working for companies which provide some or all of the labour to forest companies” (Nussbaum, 2001:3).

5.3 Impacts of globalisation in the forestry industry As described in the previous section, a recent trend amongst many companies is to outsource their manufacturing abroad, and to use sub-contractors in their production to increase the company’s financial gains. As companies strive to reach higher production rates at lower costs, it compromises the quality of working conditions and the safety and health at the workplace (Forastieri, 1999). Such practises severely hinder the trade unions’ abilities to organise workers, to provide them with appropriate social protection and to establish a social dialogue between workers and companies (ICFTU 2003, ILO 2001:73). Outsourcing or contracting out, according to the Oxford English dictionary (2011), is to get a “contract from a source outside the organization or area; to contract (work) out”. When a company outsources a process, it is possible that a completely independent company will perform the job. A sub-contractor is a person, or a company, which has a contract to do some elements of a job that another company is responsible for (Oxford Dictionary, 2011).


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The ILO, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), jointly defines safety and health issues as:

“Occupational health should aim at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations…of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the workers in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological equipment” (Kloss, 2010:21).

5.3.1 Outsourcing of work in the forestry sector

Two, of maybe the most controversial issues to date in forestry, entail companies that substitute their permanent workers with contractors, and secondly, the raise in numbers of contractors used in production (Nussbaum, 2001). Problems that arise out of the contract environment cumulate in short-term contracts and inadequate job security. Problem with the social security for different workers that are hired through third-party contractors is very present. These workers were initially believed to be covered by national laws and regulations, but experience has shown that so is not the case for the majority.

Whilst studying labour relations and working conditions, one finds a difference in treatment of directly employed workers and sub-contract workers. These workers, mainly contracted through associated work cooperatives or employment agencies, do not have the right to unionise themselves. ICFTU, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, describes how “These workers are left highly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and intimidation by unscrupulous employers, instances of which are increasing apace with outsourcing and sub-contracting arrangements” (2003:5). In such settings, collective agreements that also cover the contractor’s employees, remain an exemption rather than normal practise (ILO, 2001:92). Barrientos & Smith (2007) state that employment benefits for workers; insurance, pension schemes, illness and childbirth coverage, extend only to companies’ permanent staff, whilst the ILO follows on the same line and claims that safety and health issues are worse for contract workers than for permanent staff (ILO, 1997).

Clarke (2011), in her study of changes in labour practises in FSC-certified plantations, found how a lack of unionisation severely diminished especially contract workers’ chances to negotiations and collective bargaining. Furthermore, Clarke


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established that the legal minimum wage, in fact, acted as the maximum wage. These findings are not unusual, nor surprising, as outsourcing contracts typically are given on the ’lowest bidder principle’. In reality, contract companies need to hold workers’ salaries and benefits low to have a chance to obtain the contract in the first place.

An FSC certified forest enterprise can use contractors or sub-contractors in its production, as long as it does not break FSC’s 10 P&C (Nussbaum, 2001). FSC’s Forest Management certification clearly states that contractors shall have the same safety and health standards as the company’s permanent staff.

5.3.2 Safety and health at work

The forest and wood industry remains one of the most accident-prone and dangerous work sectors in the world (FAO, 2002). For instance, a FAO study from 2002 showed that forest workers in general do not reach normal pension age (FAO 2002:269, ILO 1997). The rate of forest workers that either perish, or get severe injuries, is two to three times higher than in the industrial sector (ILO, 1997). Reliable statistics are difficult to find for many countries. In the United States, on average, one out of twenty loggers dies at work (ILO, 1997). Others report of death rates nearly five times higher than the average occupational death rate (Kizer, 1995). These workers, beset with heavy, physical workloads, live under very primitive conditions (OSHA, 2012). Furthermore, the work often means an isolation from family, friends and society for months on end in remote locations. Especially labourers working with chainsaws are extra vulnerable (FAO, 2002). Allegedly, up to 99 percent of workers in forestry never have received any form of work training (ILO, 2001).

For workers in factories, other dangerous hazards prevail. Risks from fumes, noise, chemicals, machinery and wood dust are only few of the dangers that workers encounter (OSHA 2012, ILO 2010). Criticising the lack of adequate safety routines in wood processing facilities, Winborg reports a deficiency in protection and chemical handling procedures (2006). Winborg is not alone to criticise problematic safety issues. Whilst examining the high rates of respiratory diseases and occupational exposure to wood dust in wood processing factories, Jacobsen et al., found “an association between fresh wood dust exposure and asthma, asthma symptoms, coughing, bronchitis, and acute and chronic impairment of lung function” (2010:15).

ILO (2005) considers that workers’ safety and health should, first and foremost, be sought in a preventative manner (making sure workers do not have accidents/get ill), rather than, in a protective manner (making sure workers do not get worse). Unsurprisingly, prevention over protection lingers a distant reality. Another concern is that 83 percent of workers in Indonesia stand without any social insurance; covering


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pension, occupational accidents or death (ILO, 2010). Furthermore, reports state that workers lack such assumptive information as safety and health procedures, and their fundamental rights as workers (ILO, 2010). To tie together the discussion, Forastieri write that it is:

“…evident that high productivity and quality employment can only be reached when requirements for the prevention of accidents and diseases and the protection of workers’ health and welfare are integrated in the management of the production process” (Forastieri, 1999:1-2).

5.4 Decent work and ILO’s Core Conventions

This section discusses the legal instruments and frameworks trade unions use to enhance labour conditions and to create social dialogue at the workplace. Trade unions use ILO’s decent work agenda and Core conventions to augment workers’ rights. The ILO has four fundamental components included in the decent work agenda; employment and income generation, social protection with focus on the ‘quality’ of employment, rights at work and last but not least, social dialogue.

5.4.1 ILO Conventions and Occupational Safety and Health

The ILO, with seat in Geneva, maintains and develops international labour standards since 1919. These standards constitute the foundation for decent and productive work in an increasingly globalised economy (ILO, 2007).

“International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO's constituents (governments, employers and workers) and set out basic principles and rights at work. They are either conventions, which are legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by Member States, or recommendations, which serve as non-binding guidelines” (ILO, 2011a).

FSC requests FM certified companies to comply with all (by the individual country) ratified ILO conventions. In FSC’s CoC certification, companies must comply with ILO’s eight Core conventions and show a dedication to Occupational Safety and Health. Companies with an FSC certification must further show their dedication to safety issues at the workplace and to the health of their workers.


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5.4.1.1 ILO’s Core Conventions ratified by Indonesia

By ratifying ILO’s eight Core conventions on fundamental human rights, Indonesia agrees to follow the binding principles (ILO, 2007). In practise, the conventions cover four fundamental principles and rights at work.

The first principle regards ‘Freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining’. Two Core conventions (C), concern the first principle. C98, the right to organise and collective bargaining, declares the right for workers to organise themselves collectively and to partake in collective bargaining. C87 treats the freedom of association and protection of the right to organise. It states that workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rule of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation (ILO, 2010).

The second principle covers the ‘Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour’. In this context, the principle consists of the forced labour convention, C29, and of C105, the abolition of forced labour. C29 covers all work or service, which is extracted either by force or being imposed on an individual, under the threat of any penalty, and which the individual has not voluntarily offered to partake in. In addition, countries that ratified C105, undertake to eliminate forced or compulsory labour due to political views, for economical profits, to discipline labour, as a punishment for partaking in strikes or as any form of discrimination, so being of racial, social, national or religious character (ILO, 2010).

The third principle concerns the ‘Effective abolition of child labour’. C138 constitutes the minimum age Convention, whilst C182 handles the worst forms of child labour. C138 announces that when ratified, each country has an obligation to pursue a national policy to underwrite the abolition of child labour, and further, to advance the minimum age for employment. C182 regards the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, (a child under 18 years of age). Worst forms refers to slavery, prostitution, pornography, drugs or any work that is likely to harm the health, security or morals of children (ILO, 2010).

The fourth, and last principle, is the ‘Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation’. Convention C100 covers equal remuneration, whilst C111 encloses discrimination (employment and occupation). Equal remuneration refers to basic ‘rights of workers’, i.e. employers must pay workers their salary for the work that arise out from an employment. Furthermore, any remuneration must be equal between the genders. Any form of prejudice against an individual, basing on sex, race, colour, religion, political opinion, or social origin, is a form of discrimination (ILO, 2010).


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5.4.2 Decent work The notion of decent work is a familiar framework used by both ILO and trade unions (ILO 2001, BWI 2006). In addition, the concept got firm roots in the foundation of universal human rights (UN, 2010).

The primary goal of ILO and workers’ unions is to promote the prospects for both genders to obtain decent and productive work, whereby conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity are central components (Ghai 2002, ILO 2001). Thus, the notion of decent work is an important concept on trade unions agendas, as it highlights four main elements regarding employment. These elements include employment generation, social security, workers’ rights and social dialogue. Further, the concept “of decent work is applicable not just to workers in the formal economy but also to ‘unregulated wage workers, the self-employed and home workers” (Ghai 2002:1). Therefore, the concept embraces the state of affairs for extra vulnerable groups in society. Productive work represents a fair income, social protection for the worker and the worker’s family, safety and health, not to mention, employment stability (ILO, 2001). Ghai argues that the concept of decent work must underwrite decent living (2006:127). For that reason, substantial social procedures must be in place to guarantee the transformation of decent work into decent living (ILO, 2001). In relationship to the wood and forestry sectors:

“Sustainable development is inconceivable without decent work. Consequently, there is a major opportunity to build on past achievements and on the consensus on decent work between ILO constituents and to use the institutions of social dialogue when it comes to putting sustainable development into practice in the forest industries. Specific examples where this has been happening include: the formulation of a shared international vision for sustainable forest management and for forest policy and industry strategy; certification; and the adoption of codes of forest practices” (ILO, 2001:76).


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5.4.2.1 Pillar one: decent employment and income opportunities

To classify work as decent, many different parts are needed. The first of the four decent work pillars discusses the importance of employment and income creation for sustainable livelihoods. It promotes employment generation and an environment that is sustainable for individuals to augment and develop their occupational proficiency (UN, 2010).

This notion builds upon that individuals should receive a personal fulfilment of, and be in a state of well-being through their employment. In such situations, society can prosper in a climate where economical development, augmented living standards and social progress prosper (ILO, 2008).

5.4.2.2 Pillar two: guaranteeing rights at work for the workeforce

This concept refers to workers’ rights, whereat in particular disadvantaged and marginalised workers are in extra need of representation. Laws and regulations are two important components of enforcing workers’ rights. Through ILO’s labour standards, both conventions and recommendations, ILO can stipulate the minimum expectable labour standards (ILO, 2008).

5.4.2.3 Pillar three: extending social protection and job security

Social protection, security and labour protection are all important precautionary measures for an individual’s safety. It can prevent otherwise vulnerable individuals, from falling into pauperism and deprivation (ILO, 2008). The necessities of social protection nets, become above all visible when people fall ill, lose their job, or reach old age (UN, 2010).

In addition, social protection is part of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which states that “Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security” (UN, 2010:13). Social security is therefore a highly important feature in society, as well-established social protection systems can mean the difference between life and death. Especially for poor people in the informal sector, access to adequate health care is important (UN, 2010). Decent work promotes safe working conditions, it implements policies to regulate working wages (enforces minimum) and allocates free time and rest (ILO, 2008).


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5.4.2.4 Pillar four: promoting social dialogue

The ILO promotes social dialogue and tripartism to enforce labour law and to reinforce their establishment. Discussions rest an indispensable element for functioning democratic societies (Ghai, 2002) and are the focal point of pillar four. Many workers gain the right to engage in discussions with their employers and authorities on work related issues. Its importance has shown as workers need a voice to defend their rights, either through peaceful demonstrations, or through social dialogue at the negotiation table (UN, 2010). Social discussion relating to work perpetrates at divergent levels:

“Between employers and employees in relation to the terms and conditions of employment; between management and workers over the functioning of an enterprise; and between social partners and public authorities on social and economic policy” (Ghai, 2002:27).

Strong, independent worker organisations can aid to increase the productivity and to handle complaints, disputes and other matters at work (ILO, 2008). Collective bargaining, for example, is a social dialogue between the unions and the employers’ organisation, where discussions form the terms and conditions of the employment.

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6. Effects and impacts: CoC certification

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6. Effects and impacts: CoC certification The first out of three result chapter intends to summarise the general tendencies that the factory’s workers reported on. In some circumstances, more specific cases are reported on in detail. The focal point centres on the perspectives of the stakeholders coming from different backgrounds and on different work contracts. The chapter covers the empirical findings from permanent, contract and sub-contract workers and on some occasions, a sub-contracting agency. Room is given to illustrative examples, and quotes are used to embody the essentials picked upon during the discussions.

The section follows the general structure of the ILO’s decent work agenda, covering the workers’ employment security, workers’ rights, social protection and right to social dialogue. The end of the chapter showcases the factory workers’ environmental perception and knowledge, clarifying to what degree the labourers have been involved in the certification.

6.1 Employment security The purpose of the following sections is to elucidate the different respondents’ outlook on quality of work and employment stability. A short description of different workers’ impressions of changes since FSC’s CoC certification is further presented.

6.1.1 Employment stability and perception of work quality Deviating work contracts had been signed for permanent, contract and sub-contract workers. The range of the contracts varied from standing contracts for the permanent workers, to three, six and more rarely, 12 months contracts, with an opportunity of renewal for contract workers. Daily or weekly work opportunities were the norm for sub-contractors, who operated without any formal work contract from the company. Instead, it was revealed that the sub-contractors had been hired through a sub-contracting agency, and hence, not obtained any form of work contract.

The permanent workforce had been informed of their rights to trade union membership. None had experienced any external interference from the company and most had decided to become members. A collective agreement had been signed for these


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workers by the trade union, stating their rights and their obligations as workers, and besides, the general conditions of their employment. The agreement had been made through discussion between the management and Kahutindo. According to the respondents, the agreement provided them with a trustworthy employment coverage and it was viewed as a reliable settlement.

Descriptions, such as the “best I will get” and “other jobs would probably not be as good as this”, were repeatedly used to express their vision of their work. Even though the general work tasks themselves were considered as boring, monotonous and hazardous, these shortcomings were made up by the workers’ social lives and unity, as “a lovely, communal feeling…” was flourishing amongst the workers, creating a social and prosperous working environment.

The question of work stability commonly was regarded as “…safe, unless I do a serious mistake”. A serious mistake, for instance, connoted being absent from work without an acceptable, judicious explanation. Another, out of the question deed, was to be involved in an argument or a fight with another member of staff. Such incidences could result in the immediate dismissal and were to be avoided at all costs. In concurrence with fellow work colleagues, one male worker described insecurities around his rights to sick leave. To put his situation into perspective, the man had been employed at the company for almost ten years, and was the sole provider for his family. He had recently stayed at home for five days with his sick daughter. He could not sleep at night over fears of losing his position. He justified his anxieties as “…it is so difficult to find another job. My children must be able to continue their education”.

Generally speaking, many contract workers first applied for a permanent position in the factory. After an initial rejection, the management had told them to make requests for contract work instead. Many individuals had been forbidden trade union membership by the management, and witnessed of threats of dismissals. The cost of such actions would be born by the workers, as the management would react with bristles if the contractors took the idea any further. Furthermore, it was considered common sense not to ask for a permanent position, as it was “something stupid and naïve to do”. In fact, hardly anyone had the courage to ask the management this question. Opinions ranged from that one“…should not be too nosy on the reasons why”, to that the management knew best.

The contractors had been put on guard, as they knew about fellow colleagues who had gotten into trouble for such actions. After ten years in the company’s service, one man had decided to ask for a promotion to become permanently employed. In an imminent manner, the management had made him resign. No one dared to ask directly again, but rather let their enquiry slip to a supervisor or let a trade union officer make the request.


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The contractors could not grasp the logic behind “why they had no chance to advance to permanent positions”, even after a decade of service. Their short-term contracts meant that they had to “…rely on the management’s benevolence” every time the extension of their position was revised. They stated that the company’s leaders “…do not care about their workers. And especially, they tend to care less about us, contract workers…”. A few contractors described emotional stress and anxiety regarding what would happen to their family in upcoming years, and thought that one year extension periods to their contracts would be suitable.

One contractor had worked at the company for almost two years. She was refused a permanent position and had no other option than to become a contractor, knowing that the position came without the same benefits as a permanent position. She described how:

“It is impossible to become a permanent worker when you are over 30. The company does not want to pay us older workers, as it is more likely that we have families. They do not have to pay for my children’s insurance. The younger workers are paid less; no family means less to pay for the company. Many of my friends have worked on contracts for more than ten years…”.

A man in his early forties had been employed at the company for nearly eight years. He previously had worked for the same company as a chainsaw operator in their forest concession area. In his mind, that position was exceedingly dangerous and he had on that basis decided to change. High accident rates, deaths, and unsustainable working conditions had eventually made him throw in the towel. “I was getting older. In such a case, who would take care of my family, support them if something happened to me? I had to stop even if the salary was much higher back then…”. Safety wise, changing into the factory was an improvement. Financially however, the change put a lot of tension on his family. There were periods when he went without work for days on end. “The longest I had to be away was 10 days. It was a serious problem for my family. I was not paid at all, and it put a lot of pressure on us, actually, it was so hard for me”.

The state of affairs for the sub-contractors followed a similar pattern to the contract workers. However, the sub-contractors abided by a sub-contracting agency, and not by the company. Many of the sub-contract workers first applied for positions as contractors, and when rejected, joined the sub-contract agency. The majority had not completed any formal schooling and lacked relevant work experience. The work was described as tough, as all sub-contractors worked on three-shift basis, including nights and without the employment security or pay-check that a contract position provided. These individuals admitted that they had no option to join any trade union. An explanation for it had not been given. They knew simply that it was impossible and reflected that the management probably knew their rights better than themselves.


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Financial unsteadiness swayed over and threatened to push a few sub-contractors into poverty. Some described that they already considered themselves to live in poverty. A number of these individuals fought hard to attain enough food and clean water to support their family. For example, a female sub-contractor and her husband, a contract worker, lived together with two children in one of the “poorest houses” in the village that surrounded the factory. Bursting into tears, the husband descried their state of affairs as “…vicious for both health and mind”. Fundamental needs such as to be able to eat, to buy medicines and to pay for their children’s education, were part of their daily struggles. The family could only afford to eat one meal every second day. The father used to refrain from drinking water and smoked to stop his hunger, so he could give his food portion to his sons.

This family’s path to provide a better life, had been both long and jagged, influenced by many unfortunate circumstances. Eight years ago, the family’s two daughters were killed in the Ambon clash between Christians and Muslims. The reminiscences of the murders of their two, very much loved daughters, became too much to handle for the family. Struck down by grief, the parents decided to relocated and “…make a fresh start, far away. It was a life changing event for our family, to lose our children…We decided that we must provide safer and better lives for our two sons, at whatever costs…”. The husband, with over 20 years of experience in his occupation, described how the family in recent years, had been caught in a wicked circle that threatened both the family’s social well-being and economic situation. The man’s age made it impossible for him to get a permanent position at the factory. At the same time, he considered it completely impossible to leave and search for a new employment somewhere else. The instability of their work contract resulted in even the smallest set-back being made into a considerable calamity.

The wife worried about her husband’s health. He had been told by the company’s medical staff that he had both malaria and tetanus, illnesses he treated with a cheap substitute to antibiotics. To cope with the heavy costs of medication (as he was not entitled to a health insurance as a contractor), the family sold the few things they owned (a motorbike) and scrabbled for the rest of the money. In total, they borrowed more money from neighbours and friends than they could dream of earning throughout a whole year. This incident put a heavy burden on the family, as the man’s medical status did not improve as predicted. In fact, he was getting worse rapidly and they were caught in what they described as a vicious spiral. The man could not take time off work, nor afford going to the hospital. Recently, he had gotten so weak that he could not stand up, and completed the whole interview whilst lying on a thin mattress on the floor. The management had threatened to fire him if he did not turn up for work the following morning. The family’s options were few; the father had to go to work the following morning.


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A sub-contracting agency, set up three years prior, was accountable for providing sub-contract workers to the factory. The man in charge, mentioned how sub-contractors eventually could advance to become contractors or permanent workers “if they are very employable”. However, statistically, the situation for sub-contractors looked completely different. “Actually, there are none that became permanent in the last three years” remarked the man, but he thought there were a few that had gone on to work directly for the company on 3-months contracts. The sub-contractors had some common features according to the sub-contract agency. Familiar traits included being a migrant, of an older age, which already had children and lacked elementary school certificates.

The man remembered a conversation between himself and the management on the topic of sub-contractors:

“The subcontractors depend on the management to become contractors, they need the right skills and motivation. There is not a need from the company’s side for these people to become workers, they use subcontractors instead. It makes more sense economically”.

Sub-contracting, in his view, was a much lucrative and profitable deal for the company, whereas it caused an “extremely bad” situation for the workers. The sub-contractors’ dreams of becoming permanent workers, remained a highly unlikely prospect in the man’s eyes.

During the interview, a sub-contractor approached the man at the agency to converse about upcoming work. The agency man tried to persuade the sub-contractor to leave the company, and at least to attempt to find a more stable and better position at another company. The man enforced the fact that there never would be a permanent position available, that the salary was too low to live a fulfilled life on, and that the man missed out on other, important social security benefits. The sub-contractor, however, was adamant to keep his position, which in his own words, would earn him big money one day and after a short talk, bid farewell.

Whilst groaning, the man in charge of the agency muttered how the majority of sub-contract workers hoped for a better life through their work. They could not see how the company used their willingness to hard labour, and erroneously supposed that it eventually would earn them a long-term position. The man viewed the company’s request for sub-contractors as a short-sighted solution. To his knowledge, these workers had to accept an inferior work quality compared to the remaining staff. It had stimulated an environment with low wages and devoid of work training, as it remained diffuse who held the final responsibility of these workers.


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6.1.2 Improvements in employment security? Since the approval of an FSC’s CoC certification in 2002, permanent and contract workers signed a work contract through a collective agreement. A tougher stand from the local government, encouraged by trade unions, was the basis of the changes according to different respondents. The government challenged companies to meet legal work regulations for labourers. In addition, since the 1998 allowance to form trade unions, the majority of the interviewed permanent workers had acted upon this fact. No such improvements were reported from contract and sub-contract workers and they found it difficult to mention potential improvements in this area.

6.2 Rights at work The centre of attention of this section is on workers’ rights, with special attention given to the workforce’s Occupational Safety and Health. It covers training at work and workers’ opinion on safety and health standards.

6.2.1 Provided work training Although many of the permanent workers were offered training at work, the training was not compulsory. The company offered a three day training session for those willing to participate. A permanent worker explained the company’s general attitude towards work training. “The training was offered to me, but if you think you know the safety yourself and that you are an expert, you do not have to join in”. A prominent complaint encircled that the training resulted in a loss of income, as three days’ worth of wages was deducted from participating workers.

The training process provided an introduction to the use of the safety equipment. A supervisor worked extensively with the permanent staff to make them confident enough to operate their own work sections, and at the same time, to improve their proficiency and skill development. The majority of the interviewees had chosen to taken part in some form of work related drill and were content with the standard. According to them, the training was an important operation to partake in, as they now knew more about the “lurking dangers” their work environment encapsulated. In addition, the workers operated only one station, or received training before they were moved on to a new station. However, one worker said that he had been ordered to operate another sector that


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he had no training on. When asked of the result, he replied; “…I protested to Kahutindo, which spoke to the supervisor. I did not have to change my sector any more”. On top of this, the safety and health regulations were stated on one of the walls inside of the factory.

In divergence, the situation for contract and sub-contract workers was entirely the opposite. Contractors were told “to come, to see and to do” on their first day at work. In their opinion, the company’s attitude had been very relaxed, and as a consequence, none had any formal training on the machinery or chemical handling, and they were oblivious of the general safety procedures. Contractors had been told that it was forbidden for them to partake in the same training as the permanent staff. Common statements like “I never heard anything about safety at work” and “I did not even have training on my first day, it was not an option given to me....” were prominent. Now and again, a contractor complained to the trade union or to a supervisor when moved onto an unknown work station. As a sub-contract worker, it was rather the rule than the exception to be moved around in the factory. From one day to another, these individuals were distributed where they were considered most needed. Aware that none of them were irreplaceable, they felt pressured to change to new work stations. Hence, sub-contract workers had been told by the management, that work training was not relevant “…for us, the unskilled workers” and stated that all forms of “work training remains secondary to productivity”. To make a complaint to a trade union, a supervisor or the sub-contracting agency scared the workers. Many were frightened of the consequences, and said that it went against their obligations as labourers at the company. Moreover, out of the few sub-contractors spoken to, many were illiterate had been unable to read the displayed safety instructions.

6.2.2 Occupational safety and health at work Two concerns came to light during the interviews concerning the factory’s safety procedures. Firstly, the safety equipment needed to be improved and to be supplemented with additional gear. Especially permanent and contract workers considered it to be of an appalling condition and to lack important safety features. Secondly, alarmingly high accident rates for the staff were reported. The safety equipment consisted of a pair of gloves (picture 1), a textile face mask (picture 2) and a uniform. In the workers’ minds, the quality of the equipment was too low.


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Picture 1: Gloves provided to a permanent worker Source: Own photo 2011

Picture 2: Safety mask provided to a permanent worker Source; Own photo, 2011

Safety hats, safety shoes, hearing or eye protection were never provided. The equipment was not compulsory to wear, and supervisors allowed workers to work without their equipment. Sometimes, permanent workers saw people who worked whole days without safety gear. A different set of safety gloves was provided free of charge for permanent workers involved in chemical handling. One permanent worker at the shipping dock stated that he received his first safety equipment in 2004. “The safety of the employees


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was not really considered prior to that. I often worried about getting hurt, having an injury or such a thing. Being unable to work”. Others claimed the opposite; the safety had decreased when the new management took over.

A black, heavy smoke encircled the factory. The workers stated that "sometimes it is so thick and spreads outside and inside the factory". Every day, a large amount of smoke and sawdust particles were inhaled at work, despite wearing protection masks. A female described the safety equipment as “useless”, and stated that “I have had health problems, my husband, and most of the people in the factory have problems with coughing and permanent influenza symptoms”. Especially the textile mask was deemed insufficient, as it lacked the ability to stop dust and other particles from entering into the respondents’ respiratory systems. Some tried to wash the mask regularly to increase its effectiveness, but concluded that it made no profound difference.

Accidents at work were difficult to avoid. Scars and cuts on the workers’ hands witnessed of injuries from the wood handling. Many suffered cuts from the long knives of the machines. Incidents like these resulted in a visit to the company’s medical facility. When seriously injured, the worker was sent on to the local hospital free of charge.

Most of the workers lived around the factory, and had their water supply effected by the factory’s fumes. One man who lived in the area before the factory was built, noticed some distinct changes. The smoke:

“…comes from the factory, its bigger then dust. Like soot. And it creates eye problems. The water is polluted as we have to collect it from our roofs. We need this rainwater for our daily needs. It is very bad for our health…”.

Contract workers were provided with the same protective equipment as the permanent staff and shared their apprehension over safety and health. Notwithstanding, plenty of complaints focused on the cost of the staff uniform. Some parts of the uniform had to be paid for by the contractors, equalling more than two days of wage. Especially, one man mentioned that he handled chemicals, whilst using his ordinary work gloves. In contrast, all his permanent colleagues had been provided with special rubber gloves appropriate for such tasks. He tried to avoid the glue from touching his bare skin, but it was inevitable with his poor quality gloves. The constant inhalation of glue fumes had affected his respiratory system and given him “bad lungs”. Other contractors complained about the same symptoms.

The majority had experienced sickness from an overexposure to saw dust, smoke and other particles they had inhaled. Even if experiencing the effects, they had to take the risks for their families, and prayed that they would be alright in the end. One female contractor described how her health had deteriorated after she started working in the factory. First, she felt like she had a fever which turned into a heavy cough. A few weeks


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into her employment, she began to feel a pressure over her chest. She experienced repeated rashes and gruelling itches of the skin, a disorder she shared with several other work companions. After some time, she accepted that her symptoms were not going to disappear as long as she stayed with the company. Whether or not her health deteriorated even more, she would not complain about it to the management. She did not feel brave enough, and on the contrary, anticipated that if she only took “…the risk for a short time”, it would pay off.

Concerned about the people around him, one contractor even saw sub-contractors working without their safety masks and deemed them oblivious of the consequences. The situation was described as:

“… very bad, but the supervisors do not make the workers follow the safety regulation. The security is a secondary concern it seems. There is no real hurry from the management’s side to stop people getting hurt, injured”.

For example, after only ten days at work, one contractor suffered a misadventure on the machinery. After having “cut off my finger down to the bone, on a one meter big knife”, the worker needed hospitalisation to recover. The company paid for the visit to the hospital and the medicaments. Additional economic stress was put on the family, as two whole weeks of wages were lost due to the long recovery time.

“When I work, none of the sub-contractors wears any masks; it is completely different from the permanent workers. We do not know where to buy the masks and no one told us”. This statement was expressed by a relatively new sub-contractor. He had worked for five months without a protective mask. One sub-contractor compared the company with his previous employment at an uncertified plymill factory.

“At my old company, the work equipment was free for all workers…. even the boots were free and it was safe to work in the factory. The safety was important. Even to the degree, that if you did not use your equipment, your supervisors would make a reduction of your salary”.

One sub-contract worker had lost a finger in one of the machines, whilst two others had suffered cuts all the way down to the bone structure. First, they had been sent to the factory’s infirmary, and after a consultation with the nurse, transferred onwards to the local hospital. Nonetheless, they received no compensation for either of their injuries or for their lost work days. At least one sub-contractor handled chemicals without wearing a protective mask. One individual, who handled glue on a daily basis, believed the glue to be dangerous, but never had it confirmed. “At least I think so, as it smells so strong,


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and it makes my skin itch and it gives me pain in my lungs after”. She stated that the glue touched her skin regularly.

6.2.3 Improvements in workers’ rights? When looked at from the permanent workers’ point of view, some improvements in safety aspects were identified. A few years back, they had not been offered any formal training at work and welcomed the change. Even if many contractors had worked as long as the permanent workers, they mentioned that their situation had remained the same. Sub-contract workers had not seen any changes in the three years period that they had been with the company.

Some of the workers had not been provided with safety equipment prior to 2004. In general, the workers complained about low safety and health regulations and a lack enforcement of such issues from the management’s side. The safety aspects were perceived as on a decrease since the new management took over at the factory.

6.3 Social protection and socioeconomic changes Social security coverage aims to extend workers’ security, in the form of social insurance and social assistance. This section discusses different employees’ access and knowledge of their cover. Furthermore, it covers the findings from how the socio-economic situation has developed for different workers and their respective families.

6.3.1 Social security coverage One permanent worker specified that “if I have health problems, or if my daughter is sick, I use my health insurance”. The permanent workforce valued their social insurance, which they considered important for their family’s safety. The company provided them with Jamsostek, a state-owned insurance which supported workers through its healthcare program with different benefits. The insurance was used to improve social security. It covered many benefits, such as injuries at work, sick pay, death security, loss of work cover, old age security and health maintenance and comprised not only the worker, but also the spouse and two children. A government provided insurance covered for when one got sick or needed to visit the hospital. The permanent workers described their


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insurance cover as good, but stressed a need for the company to include more children on the premium. As the situation looked today, many could not afford to pay for the additional insurance cover for their children, which therefore lost out on the same social protection scheme as their siblings. When a child was sick, the worker was paid because they had to stay at home with them.

During the research period, one permanent worker drowned when he fell into a pond in the factory. His wife, three months pregnant, was left to care for the family’s two year old son by herself. She struggled to come to turns with what would happen to her family in the future. As her husband had been a permanent worker, she was paid a 400 000 Rupiahs (US$ 45) as a compensation, like a “we are sorry gesture” from the company. Furthermore, she received half of the man’s salary for a six months period. The workers had scrambled to help and each offered a small amount of money to pay for the man’s funeral and to support the female.

Some contract workers (depending on the length of their work contract) also were entitled to the Jamsostek insurance. One female contract worker mentioned that whilst she was insured, her family was not. In similarity to many of the other contract workers, her husband and four children had no additional insurance cover more than the government’s health insurance. “Most families I know have the same circumstances as me, and live with big risks and scared of what the future holds for them”.

For one family, the effects manifested themselves both in psychological and economic stress. Their eight year old daughter carried an ominous disease which they had been unable to cure with a cheaper substitute to antibiotics. The daughter was not entitled to free health care and the family had not been able to afford a separate insurance scheme for her. Hence, their only child experienced repeated attacks from the pneumonia, which the medication could not stop. None of the parents were allowed time off work to stay at home with their daughter when she was ill, putting tension on family and friends to help out.

The contractor, who had been threatened to lose his job for being ill, said that “there is an insurance for contract workers, and I asked for it, but the management said no, that it is not their responsibility. That left us without any insurance for health” and he added sarcastically, “it is different from the permanent workforce, maybe when I am dead, the insurance will come”. He had himself paid seven million Rupiahs (US$ 775) for his medication, without any signs of healing.

“I actually need medications right now, but it is okay if I do not get it, as I need to work…it cost 50-60 000 for a check-up and the medication cost us almost 700 000 each time. We do not have 700 000 so we decided to get the cheap medications, and I try the best for healing” (US$ 6 and US$ 75).


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After the man had been forbidden to visit the hospital, a Kahutindo officer took over the matter and the management finally approved the man’s sick leave as long as he recognised that they were not financially responsible for him. The man went to the hospital, received free medical attention on his government provided health card and his US$ 30 medicines were paid for by the researcher. In fact, a doctor described that the man was in urgent need of medical attention. He did not have malaria as he had been told by the factory’s medical staff, but re-accruing complications with kidney-stones and a heavily infected bowl. He received the appropriate medical treatment, medication and recommended to rest for a few months. It was the man’s first visit to a hospital, and he felt ashamed that he had been so unaware of his own rights. When he got back to work, he accentuated, he would inform his fellow work colleagues on their rights to free medical services on behalf of the government, and their rights to utilize such amenities as citizens.

The government provided insurance was not applicable to sub-contract workers. Neither could they receive the insurance from the sub-contracting agency. Their frame of mind was that “I am working, but I have been told by the management that it is on my own risk”. Many families showed uncertainties about their rights to state sponsored health care, and had been told by the company that they had no such rights. In fact, most of the sub-contract workers continued to go to work even when sick or injured. Otherwise, they lost out parts of their salaries and might be refused back to work when fit again.

6.3.2 Socio-economic development for workers This section briefly discusses selected individuals’ socioeconomic situation. It accommodates more general entities, such being salaries, pensions and economic developments, and further describes the alterations and improvements for their free time.

6.3.2.1 Salary, pension and holiday pay The general pay for a permanent worker was around 55 000 Rupiahs (US$ 6) per day. A pay raise took place in year 2004. Prior to this year, permanent staff only earned 40 000 Rupiahs (US$ 5) for each work day. The salary range varied with work responsibility, work position and school certificates, but was placed in the area of 1 400 000-2 000 000 Rupiahs (US$ 155-220) per month. Many individuals in this segment were not satisfied with their salary. Others mentioned that their salary was “not good, not bad”. One man described it like this; “I am not happy, as I am a human. We are not satisfied, we need


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something bigger, and everything is so expensive here”. The workers were positive that their salaries always were paid on time in a correct manner. A retirement pension was assumed to be supplied by the company when the workers reached the retirement age of 55. Two weeks of paid holiday was provided each year by the company. Contract workers mentioned how they received a set fee of 44 000 Rupiahs (US$ 5) for each work day. The salary had increased since 2004, when they only had made between 30 000-36 000 Rupiahs (US$ 3) per day. Nowadays, they normally earned between 1 000 000 and 1 400 000 Rupiahs (US$ 110-155) each month, depending on how much overtime they worked. Whilst chuckling, one contractor pointed out that “if you talk about money, you never make enough. It does not matter how much you work during the month, it never seems to be enough”. The company’s obligations towards many of the contract workers ended when their contract expired; therefore, a pension was out of the question. To solve this problem, the contractors opted to never retire and planned to look for a new job on their retirement day (at 55). The workers could choose to take a holiday, but it would be deducted from their wage.

The salaries of the sub-contract workers depended on how many pieces of wood they managed to process during one day’s work. Numbers as low as 13 000 to 20 000 Rupiahs (US$ 1.5-2.5) were reported, leaving some workers with as little as 500 000-600 000 Rupiahs (US$ 55-67) per month to survive on. As many sub-contract workers were older, they could not process as many pieces in the same time as their younger colleagues. Consequently, their salary ranged between 500 000 and 900 000 Rupiahs (US$ 55-100) per month. No one had a pension scheme, and all would continue to work as long as they had to. There existed no such “luxury” as a holiday break for the sub-contractors.

6.3.2.2 Economic development The permanent workers reported that the high cost of living ate up any surplus they received from increases in salary. Furthermore, the living wage in their town was estimated to two million Rupiahs per month, a figure most workers failed to reach. Permanent workers reported that they had no time for supplementary work, and often helped their extended family financially.

Contrasting sides described the economic developments during the last ten years. On one hand, some thought that they had more money to live on, whilst on the other hand, others considered themselves worse off. Many could afford to buy the house they lived in. No matter of their economic prosperity, in common all had that they had managed to put away some money for the future. Commonly, money was saved for their children’s education and for possible calamities.


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The contractors felt that they struggled to provide a decent living quality for their families and said that the economic situation had not really developed in the last decade. Some tried to subsidise their wage with smaller work, such as furniture making, selling fruits and vegetables, or providing cleaning services. They found it difficult to help their extended family, but when required, managed to send money to help when someone had died. One contractor laughed when asked to describe the family’s savings; “we have none, none what so ever”. This statement was shared with most of the other contractors, and none had managed to buy a house.

Sub-contract workers stated that they could not even afford to buy the most important necessities, such as enough food items, clean water and cloths. One sub-contractor lived in a 5m² room together with another sub-contractor, as they could not afford anything else. The sub-contractor mentioned how he“…thought that it was possible to come here to make money. I came from Sulawessi a year ago, as I could not give my parents any money. It is a hard life…hardly enough to get food on the table”. On his 900 000 Rupiahs (US$ 100) a month salary, he sent a third to his family so they could survive. Some workers had been sent out specifically by their families in search of work. Normally, these individuals sent home as much money as they could afford to those they had left behind. To save for the future was impossible as they even struggled to support themselves on the remaining salary.

6.3.2.3 Time off work for family and social life The permanent staff worked eight hours, six days a week with a one hour long lunch break. The lunch was provided free of charge and lunch time was described as “a very social event”. These workers mentioned that they were given, at least, one day off work each week. When the company’s production capacity was low, many workers were given time off work whilst still paid. If they had to work every day one week, the following week they would be given an additional free day as compensation.

In their view, their working conditions had improved drastically since 2004, when the local government had decided to regulate the amount of work hours per week. Prior to 2004, the permanent labour force worked twelve hour days, often seven days a week. One male worker reflected over the work hours as un-humane, and that it put a heavy burden on the employees. He continued with that“…even if you worked overtime, you were not paid. Your salary was of second-rate….what we have now is a huge improvement”. Today, the same worker receives 6000 Rupiahs (US$ 0.6) for each hour of overtime. Due to the changes in work hours, many felt that they had obtained an independence enabling them to spend time with both family and friends and taking part in sport and leisure.


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In congruence with the permanent workers, contract workers worked the same amount of hours. They received compensation for when they worked overtime. However, as their salaries remained comparatively low, they found it necessary to work as much overtime as possible. Many individuals did not have a full day off work during the week, as they opted to work overtime as soon as the opportunity appeared. If the company’s production capacity was low due to timber shortages, the workers were sent home and had to wait days before asked back again. These incidences resulted in several days’ loss of pay. Their work hours had been reduced in 2004 at the same time as for their permanent colleagues. In hindsight, they could not understand that they had managed to live such a life, and perceived that their earlier life had been about working for one’s substance, whilst today, one could reap the benefits of such hard labour whilst relishing one’s children and free time activities.

Sub-contract workers mentioned that they tried to work as often and as much as they had the opportunity to. As they worked on three shift basis (nights included), they found it difficult to plan time for rest and leisure with their families. Very seldom, they worked more than seven hours a day. When offered overtime, they always accepted it. The extra money was a much welcomed compliment, even if too little, according to the sub-contractors.

6.3.3 Improvements in social protection? Whilst some workers were provided with sufficient accident coverage, others were left without, leaving these individuals particularly vulnerable to accidents and other unpredictable events. The 2004 salary increase and work hour reduction had been implemented by the local government as part of their social program.

6.4 Right to social dialogue This section examines if workers’ rights to free association have been valued and not restricted or obstructed. Furthermore, an inspection of how different worker groups have used the trade union as their representation at work, and what complaints they have put forward is provided.


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6.4.1 Workers’ representation and appeals Rendering the permanent workers, there had been significant developments in trade unionisation in the last ten years. The implications of this comparatively recently established social enhancement instrument, had not let itself wait. Moderate and plain changes alike were demarcated by the workers. They experienced a new respect from both their supervisors and the management. Most notably, some respondents felt that the managements’ interference in their internal organisation had been significantly reduced. One individual described that if he wanted to complain about something, he would always ask Kahutindo first. He mentioned how the plant union was more up to date concerning his labour rights, and in addition, it would cause him no problems with the management.

Most workers had chosen to join a trade union. One worker decided to end his membership with Kahutindo, on the basis that it became too expensive for him. In a very short time, membership costs had almost tripled, from 3500 to 9000 Rupiahs (US$ 0.4-1) per month. The raise was to his family too high to justify the conceived benefits from the membership.

Kahutindo’s officers were approached when the workers had a request. The enquiries entailed appeals for promotional opportunities. Another, attention-grabbing finding came in the form of the salary increases for the workers. A permanent staff stated that she had asked Kahutindo to raise the monthly wage as “we wanted more money, and we got a pay rise”, even if she was adamant that it still remained too low “for a good life”. By means of discussion and negotiations between Kahutindo and the management, salary increases had become a recurring, yearly event. When an individual experienced problems with a supervisor, or was made to operate an unknown work station, they turned to one of the trade union representatives. For example, two permanent workers had complained to Kahutindo about one of their “bad supervisors”, whom they said treated them in a disrespectful and cruel manner. Afterwards, the situation had improved for the workers, as the supervisor changed his attitude towards the staff.

Other grievances concerned the quality of the lunch. One, long term permanent worker, stated how “In earlier years we had to pay for the lunch, but now a free lunch is including for everyone… it is free, but the quality is very bad”. Even though Kahutindo repeatedly had remarked that the lunch was deplorable, the quality had remained too low with the workers being dissatisfied.

Some individuals made complaints about the deteriorating quality of rainwater, which in their mind, had been polluted by the company. Kahutindo presented a formal objection to the company’s management, as they suspected a vital filter to be missing in the processing of dangerous production releases and fumes. One of the complainers had


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then been told by Kahutindo’s officers that their request had been disregarded, and that no action would be taken from the company’s side. With the imposition of the defeat, the man accused the company of ”systematically” polluting the environment. He viewed it as the company jeopardised his family’s health and saw it as proof of the “bad management” as they exposed their employees to dangerous hazards.

In congruence with the permanent workforce, contractors used the trade union route to make formal complaints concerning their work prospects, safety and health at work, salary negotiation and for better lunch options. After ten years in the company’s service, one male contractor explained why he was not a member. “I do not think I would be allowed by the management anyway. At least that is what they told me …”, whilst a female contractor said that “it is illegal and has been forbidden for me…it is the same situation for all the contractors”. Hence, these individuals utilised Kahutindo to a lesser extent than the permanent workers.

A successful example of the use of the trade union could be connected to the previously mentioned sick contractor in need of hospitalisation. After speaking to one of the plant officers, the matter was completely taken over and handled by Kahutindo. The officer had mediated between the management and the man, who was provided with a sick note, confirming the man’s health status. When the plant officer took up the man’s circumstance with the management, an unpaid sick leave was finally settled for a period of 40 days.

Many of the sub-contract workers first became introvert, and reserved when trade union membership was mentioned. They did not want to disappoint, or be disrespectful towards the management for the work opportunity given to them. Nevertheless, as the conversation continued, they confessed that “they cannot be members even if they really would love to”. Some sub-contractors lacked the knowledge that they could leave appeals with Kahutindo officers, even as non-members.

6.4.2 Improvements in right to social dialogue? Trade union membership was allowed in 1998 and had not changed significantly since. Contract workers lingered on the very same spot as they had done ten years earlier, deprived of permanent work contracts. Sub-contractors were unacquainted with their possibility to vocal representation.


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6.5 Environmental perception and knowledge To be an outspoken environmentalist, according to some of the workers, was still a dangerous stand in Indonesia. People involved in environmental battles against logging and charcoal companies, sometimes disappeared or were killed. One male worker in particular, was involved in an environmental organisation in charge of documenting large companies’ operations on protected forested land. In the loop of one day, all of his six colleagues had been murdered, two were shot at close range and four were run over by cars. At the same instance, months of documentation had been destroyed. It was not unheard of to be involved in “accidents” as an outspoken environmental advocate in Indonesia. The man had acted as an intercessor in the organisation, and therefore escaped the same treatment as he remained anonymous. The environmental organisation urged governments and human rights’ groups alike to take action, something which in the man’s mind, turned into local politicians trying to use the situation without conscience to win votes, rather than making an example of the enterprise in question.

Permanent, contractors and sub-contractors expressed concerns over their immediate environment and changes in the landscape. The lack of waste disposal facilities meant that people threw rubbish directly into watercourses. The rapid deforestation rate around their locality brought about by illegal logging had caused landslides and floorings. Some of the designated houses for contractors had been completely destroyed due to floorings. To solve the problem, they replanted trees to try to stabilise the soil.

6.5.1 Certification knowledge Certain workers had seen SmartWood’s and LEI’s logos inside the factory. They were told by the management that the logos were connected to the wood originated from a sustainable, legal source and for import and export reasons. The meaning, or the reason for acquiring such labelling, caused uncertainties in the respondents’ answer and they contemplated for a while before answering. Whereas it had a connection to high wood standards, to define the concept of FSC, LEI and SmartWood’s labels was explicated as “confusing”. The workers described that the management typically handled all such issues, and that they were sure that the same had all necessary information and knowledge of what was essential to meet the objectives of the logos.

Two workers had more knowledge of the FSC labels, notable SmartWood, than the remaining team. The first knew, for example, that the company adopted the label in 2002, and that it had an “FSC existence”. As he never had met FSC, or any other


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certifying body for that matter, he could not put its importance into proportion. In his opinion, this association was missing due to that the management never involved the workers in important issues. He hinted at a possible “lack of interest from the company’s side” to make its significance apparent to the company’s staff. The FSC logo was only mentioned by one other worker, and this person had no recollection of having had any information about the certification from the management. Instead, Kahutindo’s officers had told him at a meeting about forest certification and FSC. In fact, most people did not know that FSC was a certification, and none knew that it stood for the Forest Stewardship Council. In this chapter, we have seen that FSC’s CoC certification per se, has not impacted the stakeholders’ working conditions, but rather that changes in work hour regulation, salaries and social protection could be attributed to a tougher stand from the local government and trade union activities. Furthermore, the results point towards that improvements in working conditions in recent years, to a large extent, could be connected to the type of work contract, where the circumstances for permanent workers progressed, whilst those for sub-contractors diminished.

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7. Effects and impacts: FM Certification

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7. Effects and impacts: FM Certification The second out of the three result chapters, aims to explicate two indigenous communities stance on changes in both working and socio-economic development in recent years. Both villages are located inside the company’s forest concession, and hence, are covered by FSC’s FM certification. The relatively small number of forest workers (excluding village workers) provides insight into modifications in working conditions and social protection. In due course are environmental perception and certification knowledge presented.

7.1 Indigenous people living inside the concession The presented results cover the views expressed during two village visits. It gives an insight into the perspective of these people, of socioeconomic and cultural changes, environmental and traditional rights and what FSC’s certification has meant for their prosperity.

7.1.1 Context setting

The two affected villages consisted of the indigenous ethnic group Dyaks, a group that traditionally dwelt alongside a riverbed or on a hilly slope in the close vicinity to a river. In the late 1980s, the company arrived in the district and started intensive logging in the region. The FSC approved forest concession consisted of a primary virgin forest, which to some parts was preserved for conservational reasons. Furthermore existed an industrial plantation for production and replanting. A few years ago, the logging had ended in the area around the two villages, which instead had been involved in replanting programs.


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7.1.1.1 Traditional living vs. contemporary developments A village head described how his forefathers had resided in the very same region for several generations. Native recollections of history and folklore traditionally were passed on from generation to generation, by means of cultural practises and oral accounts. Due to missionary influences, the tribes identified themselves as a mixture of Christians and Animists. Formerly, one of the village heads stated, a strong belief had persisted that all things, forest, animals, rivers, mountains and themselves alike, nurtured a soul. In present time, missionaries at least moderately, managed to convince them that only humans were spiritual beings. Nevertheless, old, cultural beliefs and ways were hard to give up on, and several places in their close vicinity held a particular cultural meaning to them, regardless of what Christianity had taught them.

According to the other village head, recent changes in land claims transformed not only his fellow villagers’ relationship to nature, but brought about major developments in health and welfare for their community. From the 1960s and onwards, drastic changes in land access and land rights resulted in a progressive adaptation and new ways of undertaking things for the communities. They had gone from wandering around their land, finding new places to live on, to become stationary in just a few decades. In previous years “we used to be forest people…we still are to some part, but now, we are more stable. We have one place where we live our lives, and we have started farming, to become agriculturalists”. However, not only the communities’ way of living was changing, but also their surroundings.

The company caused (especially in its earlier years) extensive damage in the environment. The company’s trucks had left large trails and long-lasting scars in the vegetation. Floorings were one of the most current problems, as roads become impassable during heavy rains. In the villagers’ minds, this was due to the large amount of trees that were cut down along the roadsides. Moreover, the canopy above one of the main rivers had completely been taken down, an action that destroyed the vegetation underneath.

7.1.2 Recent socioeconomic development The more recent socioeconomic developments cover changes in the relation between the company and indigenous people. Furthermore, it highlights the communities’ social developments, their economic situation and employment development, and how these individuals have been involved in the certification process.


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7.1.2.1 The commencement of FSC and changes in dialogue One village described how they recently had formed a relationship with the company. Their changed partnership had given rise to economic progression for the community, transforming what the village had viewed as a problematic situation into one which both turned a profit on. In earlier days, one of the communities had problems to assert their rights to the forest. Insisting that the company had acquired the legal rights to the area, many disputes were carried out between the village and the company of whom actually owned the rights to the land. The village, on their hand, claimed the land, rivers and forests as theirs, whilst the company continued the logging close to their settlement and without respecting their objections. The profits reaped from the forest had not stretched down to the communities. Since the certification process was initiated in early 2000, both communities reported how several, long-term conflicts, had been solved and how their villages were prospering. According to them, it was foremost the company’s attitude towards them that had changed. It was described as if the company had warmed up to the village and become much friendlier. New cutting permits had been negotiated with the communities, in lieu of other, cash or in kind benefits for the villagers. The arrangement included for instance, motors to the villagers’ boats and access to water cleaning machines.

These days, the company accepted the villagers’ rights to the surrounding forested land. In addition, the logging area had been agreed upon with some of the more prominent villagers present. The company requested permission before they harvested any trees, and a settlement had been made on an appropriate compensation depending on the amount of cubic meters harvested. It was a profitable deal for the village according to the village head. One villager, with a close connection to the company, described the connection as this; “we are paid for the wood the company takes, and the company is grateful that we let them take it”.

As the communities cherished certain sites in the forest for their cultural or economic value, these areas had been negotiated and guaranteed to remain unexploited. At the same time, the villagers considered that they had regained the “same right to the forest as we used to have”. In practice, different villagers mentioned how the company allowed them to use as much timber as they liked for their own needs without making prior requests. One villager stated that:

“If we need to build a house, we can take it from the forested areas and transport it by the river with our canoes. The (…) do not touch this part as it is too close to the riverbanks anyway”.


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In recent years, one village had started to collect, process, and sell it as building materials on the local market in order to increase their profits. In the agreement with the company, they could access, cut, pick, or use in any other way, as much wood as they liked. Trees of special importance to the communities were not taken down by the company.

It was not only the trees that remained in the direct possession of the communities, but they also had the right and access to stray around the forest in search for a range of diverse items. Fishing took place in the rivers, animals were hunted in the forest and fruits and berries were picked. Both villages described that they had a good dialogue and a smooth running collaboration with the company. According to the village heads, many changes had recently taken place in their villages’ living standards.

7.1.2.2 Improvements in living standards and social wellbeing Each village consisted of between 60 and 100 families, with around six to eight individuals in each house. The children wore no shoes and gave the impression of insufficient and tattered clothing. During the visit, some children swam in the muddy water of a nearby river. The water, so yellow that one could not see one’s hand in it, acted as the main source for both their personal hygiene and for cloth washing. At “bad times”, when continuous heat and long periods without rainfall persisted, this water acted as a water reserve. Consuming river water had a connotation to bring sickness and rainwater was for this reason as long as possible favoured.

When conversing on economical progression, individuals from both villages pointed out that their situation, de facto, was partly down to changes in government’s laws and implementation of government programs (farmers groups, teaching and assistance in farming). When their collaboration with their company ended, the villagers held that they needed a new source of income. One individual described that they needed a government founded program to stimulate“…work, after the company has stopped here…completely”. The government had responded by encouraging them to plant coffee and palm oil on the bare land. A female villager stated that “it was the local government who told us and taught us how to plant the palm oil”. The village had been encouraged to expand its production with founds from the local government. It had been initiated in 2007, and plans for an expansion of palm oil cultivation were very much in progress. To gain better access to other communities, town and market places, both villages had made requests to the local government officials to open up and improve their nearby infrastructure. Some of the produced food items sustained the family’s food needs, whilst the rest was sold on the market to generate capital. On a government initiative, a farmer’ group had been created “to make it easy to collect the products”.


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All housing had been built as a sign of gratitude from the company. Accordingly, each family owned a house and the villagers were not moving around anymore. With augmented health standards, the child mortality rate had drastically declined. To exemplify, one village elder had fathered eleven children, from whom only four reached the age of thirty. He described it as something common in the village only fifteen years ago, “Conditions for life were harder, no medication, no money. Many families lost children early in life”. Malnutrition used to be another, widespread problem. In the present day, the villagers practise birth control and fewer children were born. With this, the mortality rate had dropped significantly compared to thirty years ago. Even though recent economical wealth in the communities made way for social improvements, individuals stated that their living wage remained so low, that they sometimes struggled to provide for their children’s medications, schooling and nourishment.

7.1.2.3 Employment opportunities and safety In the logging’s prime time, the villages’ men worked almost exclusively for the company. At its height, almost 60 men worked either in one way or another for the company. In more recent times, when the logging had stopped, eighteen people were involved fulltime in the replanting. The men had not been offered any contracts at any point and worked instead on a day to day basis. They were not formally hired by the company, but neither belonged to any other agency. Therefore, none had received any formal work training and safety equipment had not been provided. Accidents were not uncommon, caused almost exclusively by falling trees or work equipment. They were not certain, but they supposed themselves to have no right to insurance cover. They had no claim or entitlement to be provided with the Jamsostek from the company, whilst doubting their right to a government sponsored insurances.

They knew a few of Kahutindo’s plant officers, but had however not been endorsed as members. This they specified, distinguished themselves from the company’s other staff. Usually, the company contacted them when in need of manpower. The lack of a work contract had not bothered the villagers who were deeply grateful to the company for their work opportunities. However, a notion of distrust had grown, as the company refused the villagers positions in their new logging areas.


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7.1.2.4 Environmental perception and certification knowledge A virtual explosion in the amount of trucks loaded with charcoal posed a potential threat to the environment, whilst at the same time providing new infrastructure to the indigenous communities. Whilst the direct environment around the villages remained forested, other areas in their close vicinity had been completely striped of their previous tree cover by different forest operators. Flooding remained a major problem for the villagers, primarily due to drastic changes in land cover around the region. Roads remained impassable days on ends, as the before omnipresent vegetation cover had diminished. The communities’ stand was that although this might come to pose a potential threat in the future, such activities allowed them to reap the fruits of their long-term sacrifices at the moment.

One of the village heads pointed out, that the company’s re-certification process was taking place right at the same time as the field visit. Assessors from the certification agency, had visited the village several times, both before and whilst the company had their FSC (SmartWood) certification. They had spoken about previous disagreements between the village and the company. Together with the company, the village had arranged the new conditions for their collaboration. FSC, in the villagers’ mind, represented a needed instrument for their communities’ socio-economical progression. They emphasised that they indeed knew more about their legal rights today than they had done in the past, and that they had learnt that the company had to follow strict environmental regulations to perfection. In retrospective, the villagers wished that the certification could have taken place long before its start in early 2000.

7.2 Forest workers working in the forest Due to the limited scope of performed interviews, the following sections will only give a very brief insight into the current situation for forest workers. Commencing with the FM certification as a conflict resolution tool, it crosses over to workers’ perception of social and work related changes.


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7.2.1 The commencement of FSC and conflict resolution A retired replanting officer, with over fifteen years in the company’s service, remembered how the area used to be coved in pristine forest before the company started the logging. The man had firsthand experiences of problems between many Dyak communities and the company. He suggested that in the beginning, the villagers had struggled to adjust to the “new, modern times”. To his knowledge, there was a complete change of attitude in how the company treated indigenous people after they initiated the SmartWood certification. He analysed the situation as a “win-win” situation for the villagers compared to in the past.

“Before, we did not really involve indigenous people; there were many complaints and problems between them, like arguments of who had the rights to the land, forest, rivers. Today it has changed, involvement is more fundamental now for the operation”.

Other workers talked about persisting and pending conflicts between some indigenous communities and the company, which had been solved. The forest dwellers:

"…claim the land as their own, and the company were not allowed to cut down their trees; the trees were not cut as they were sacred to the local tribes. In their mind, the forest is theirs and if the company wants to use the trees, they must pay for it worthily. Normally, with something they want, usually tribal people want speedboat motors or money".

7.2.2 Employment prospects, safety and social dialogue One male permanent worker with a university degree in forestry had experiences from both the logging and the replanting areas. The man, in his early 40s, once applied for a higher position inside the company and was promoted. He used to be an active trade union officer and described how the company (to begin with) fought tooth and nail against the workers’ organisation. However, they had managed to push through and negotiated up the low salary levels to an “acceptable” level. In addition, the trade union had arranged insurance and other social benefits for their permanent staff. In fact, only supervisors were hired as permanent workers at the replanting area, leaving the remnant workers to function on short-term contracts, or sometimes on none at all. All the others were either contractors or workers from the nearby villages. Therefore, trade unionisation had been relatively difficult with low membership numbers, as the


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company’s contractors and village workers were ineligible to trade membership by the company.

After several years in the company’s service, the replanting officer decided to hand in his resignation and started up his own company. His old job had inevitably meant months and months away from his family whilst living out in tents or in primitive housing. Forestry, he said, would never make any real money. Charcoal, was the way forward for the future in his opinion. When asked to contemplate on the step he took from being involved in sustainable forestry to move on to the charcoal business, he smilingly answered that his present work was something "…encouraging. If I worked for the company, I would have to work on a contract; I could not do anything else than work, no good money, or go anywhere. The charcoal business is something very promising at the moment, but I do not know for how long”. Asked if he had battled any moral concerns in the question, he replied that life was so much better nowadays. He could provide for his family and even see his children growing up. To him, the question of moral was of secondary rate. Forestry simply remained something of the past, whilst the future lay in the charcoal extraction.

A different contract worker considered the forestry sector as impossible for the future. He pointed out that the low salaries were under the living wage to sustain a family. The salary levels lay at 30 000 Rupiahs (US$ 3.5) per day, including a free lunch. The retired replanting officer described how”….for the people who were contractors, it was very bad. They had no insurance or healthcare”. As he was in charge of them, he received many complaints from the workers. Normally, they wanted to advance to a permanent position. For the officer, these requests were difficult to handle, not to say explain, as there existed no opportunities for them to become permanent employees.

None of the interviewed contractors had gone through or been offered any formal work training. Furthermore, most had inadequate personal protective equipment and worked in their own clothing. Steel boots, hearing and eye protection, and hats for instance, were reported missing.


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7.3 Environmental perception In accordance with the indigenous communities, forest workers recognised the forestry sector as something of the past. The shrinking forest cover remained a major concern for quality of life in the future. The replanting officer mention the bad influence of the quick tree loss and slow replanting process as critical for his children’s future health.

7.3.1 Certification knowledge After fifteen years in the company’s service, the replanting officer had no real idea of what the SmartWood certification actually stood for, even though he was involved in it on a daily basis. In his view, it was highly unlikely that social standards could have made its way into the certification. He based this evaluation on that:

“The circumstances in that place are quite hard for workers. They have a dangerous job, sometimes no protective equipment. It is not very social as we had to stay out in the field and I did not see my children or my wife, for a very long time. It went months in between”.

A contract worker spoke his mind on what an FSC certification meant. To him, the company needed to be involved in replanting to sustain the environment where they had been operating, and continued that “it has to do with the quality of the wood and the complicated management of it”. Another man stated that the certification “guarantees a good quality production” but none could mention any social characteristics, with the exception of community relations, which they referred to as pleasing the communities. Nevertheless, according to the replanting officer, the company “always followed the regulations on the ecological side”. Community relationships and social laws and regulations were considered as“…mostly secondary to the ecological considerations”. To shortly summarise this chapter, FSC’s FM certification has had several positive and encouraging impacts on the interviewed indigenous communities’ socioeconomic situation, whilst still missing the mark to provide forest workers with adequate safety measures and to meet FSC’s principles and criteria for contract workers.

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8. Kahutindo’s experience of certification

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The last result chapter’s purpose is to reveal Kahutindo’s plant officers’ knowledge, involvement and opinion of recent improvements in the decent work objectives. It gives a description of different workers’ rights and state of affairs today, and shows if the plant union has identified any major improvements. In doing so, the discussion focuses on different relationships that the plant union identifies as influential for empowering labour conditions, which groups of people remain most vulnerable, and with main focus of the trade union’s tool social dialogue.

8.1 Kahutindo’s take Driving down the narrow, winding country road that leads to the company’s factory, one of Kahutindo’s plant officers, a mild tempered middle-aged man, decided to show the nearby village. Here, 90 percent of the company’s workers have settled down. Around half of them are working on permanent contracts, the other half as contractors, whilst an additional 100 people are supplied by a sub-contracting agency. The number of workers in the forest concession continuously shifts, and hence, was more difficult for the officer to assess.

The man continued to describe that the company’s plymill factory had been built in the late 1980s. The factory, connected to a sea harbour, handled all the timber that arrived from the company’s forest concession. The company had two different logging concessions. The first was a logged over secondary forest and the second a virgin forest for which the company held a licence from the government to operate in. The forest certification process took the company more than five years to complete. The company was granted the certification in 2006 and the FSC CoC in 2002. In addition, the company strove to be rewarded other certifications, as most of the timber was exported onwards to Japan, Korea and to the European market. The company needed to show a certification that the wood arrived from legal sources before it could be exported out from Indonesia. Likewise with many other forest operators in Indonesia, the company had stumbled into financial difficulties when faced with huge timber deficits due to new forest regulations.


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8.2 Social dialogue and workers’ representation The results provided by Kahutindo’s plant officers, will be presented with the ILO’s decent work agenda in mind. The chapter commences by providing insight into different relationships, focusing on the social dialogue. It outlines the plant union’s angle of how their negotiations with the company on workers’ rights are progressing, in addition to different worker groups’ usage of the plant union. It identifies some areas to tackle, such as multiple trade unions and interference in trade union membership.

8.2.1 Company relationship and collaboration On a bleak and windy day in the beginning of April, the first of several discussions with a male plant union officer took place. The man, in his 30s, had been a Kahutindo plant officer for ten years. During this time, he gained insight into and experienced how to work with labour standards and the ILO’s decent work agenda.

Together with a number of his fellow colleagues, they partook in many different social events. They arranged seminars, mayday celebrations and information events. They participated in collective meetings and demonstrations with other trade unions and with Kahutindo’s regional and national branches. Furthermore, they organised public social events such as blood donations and collaborated with the government on local replanting events. The man specified that Kahutindo conversed with the local government on labour issues, developments and future problems to be resolved, in order to reach improvements in labour standardisations.

Kahutindo’s plant officers conversed and voted together with the company’s management on a wide range of work relating issues and were therefore, “in a partnership with the company, as well as with the labourers. All labour problems are normally handled by Kahutindo and our officers”. A plant union officer in a higher position stated that “we have access to good facilities, and are free to manage Kahutindo the way we choose”. He evaluated that the union and the company had come to build “a respectful relationship”. When the factory needed new employees, the company approached the union with a request to help them find the workers.

Another task uncovered was the resolution of conflicts, between the management and employees. Kahutindo was described as a social organisation, struggling for their members’ labour rights and even more imperative, for those workers that the management denied union membership. One of the officers’ main tasks was to represent the members’ interests and communicate these stances to the management.


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“I get to meet a lot of employees who have had different problems with the management, and I try to be the mediator between the two. We want to achieve the work of ILO, it’s a decent work followed for all the employees here, and it’s our objective”.

The officers felt that they had a dual responsibility. On one hand, they represent the union as their officials, on the other hand, they worked as workers in the factory. A male plant officer described the situation in the following words; "we are professional so on one side, I am like the worker, and act like that, and on the other side an officer for Kahutindo. It depends on where you are now, and who you are now". Another officer’s opinion was that “workers in general are unaware of their labour rights and what they could ask from the management, so they just follow what the management tells them”. It was revealed that many workers turned to Kahutindo’s officers to solve disputes with the management. One male officer mentioned how:

“sometimes, there are misunderstandings between the management and the workers, that create a huge problem for the worker. An example is when the management ask them, the workers, to do something that they are not trained to do. For example, work on a machine they have no idea how to operate or feel scared to use. Then the workers protest. They will come to Kahutindo’s officers to fix the problem. The officers will have a conversation with the management and try to be the mediator. And it works. I cannot even count how many cases of this we have had”.

One of Kahutindo’s officers reported on issues of corruption amongst the management. The issue came to light when one male officer was asked if he ever had been or felt threatened, due to his position as a trade union officer. His experience had been the complete opposite. He continued, ”it is the contrary, they are scared of me”. He mentioned that the company had used "political company play against the vocal opposition". He had been offered bribes, a promotion and certain privileges in exchange for his silent, but he refused.

“I know of people, good people, who had the same mind-set as me, but when they were offered things or better positions at the company, they became quiet and not willing to complain anymore. They were changed, they were bought”.


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8.2.2 Rights to trade union membership Permanent workers could become Kahutindo members first after three months of work. New members received an introduction to the trade union and its structure. The process of recruiting new members was aided by “providing attractive social programs to make a change”. To make a change entailed providing some social programs and to facilitate high quality health insurances for both the workers and their respective families. Furthermore, it included improving workers’ rights, increasing their remunerations, reducing work hours, and implementing their rights as labourers, irrespective of type of work contract.

Rendering several plant officers, the single biggest obstacle to improve labour conditions came from the company’s interference in trade union membership. Virtually, only permanent workers were allowed to join the union. Hence, the majority of the contract workers lacked the right to membership and worked on renewable contract years on end. There were at present two types of contractors, those on three months contracts, and those on one year contracts. The one year contractors were allowed to join the union, but the company had many more contractors on short term contracts than on ‘long term’ contracts. The officer asserted that it was an illegal act from the company, but had no resources available to stop them without risking to cause more harm than good for the contractors. Sub-contracting had imposed new safety and health concerns from the plant union’s point of view. According to the plant officers, these workers could not join the trade union due to their lack of contracts.

The plant union found both positive and negative changes in the workers’ employments. To exemplify, they perceived that improvements for permanent workers were dominating in the last ten years. These workers could enjoy a long-term employment security, as Kahutindo signed a collective contract on their behalf. The officers described that the pre-permanent staff, namely contractors on one-year contracts, had been included in the same arrangement. In hindsight, most contract workers still laboured on unstable work contracts that did not provide them with any extended feeling of safety.

To many of the plant officers’ aggravation, the company had decided to use sub-contract workers inside the factory. The union warned, that as external workers, they risked to stand without any social protection and could work for years without the opportunity to become employees with real work contracts. Such was the plant officers’ exasperation, that they saw the decrease in work security and questioned how such actions could allow a company to keep their certifications.


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8.2.3 Three trade unions, three strong wills The plant officers took great pride in being part of the trade union. Before Kahutindo’s configuration in 2000, it had been part of another trade union. Today, three different trade unions were active in the factory. Talks of a potential coalition to forge the three trade unions into one had been undertaken. The coalition, however, lingered a remote vision. A woman at a senior position inside Kahutindo, mentioned how such an alliance could augment their influence and strength, but would be difficult to achieve. Her explanation was that each of the three trade unions found it hard to agree on how such a future merge would be formed. Disagreements amid the three trade unions consequently meant, that each plant union had less authority than if operating combined.

One of the plant officers described the situation as “… there are too many unions involved. It gets too difficult for the unions to stand united against…” the company. Another plant officer alleged that it would have been easier, if only one labour union handled the discussions with the management. “All of us, the labour unions, worry about contract workers conditions. These workers have different rights from permanent workers in the factory, and it is discriminating them”.

Two of his colleagues did not agree on this point and claimed that the social dialogue was everything except independent. For them, it was incomprehensible how:

“We vote with the management to try to improve the workers’ rights and conditions found in the factory, and it fails. Some of the labour unions are managed by the company and are not apart from the management. This is against the core ILO convention. We always try to follow the Indonesian labour regulations, to know how to give labour rights in a fair way for all parties… but the other unions do not care about this”.

The state of affairs for the company’s contract workers was a frequent matter of discussion. One of the plant officers both conversed and voted with the management as Kahutindo’s representative. “I bring up the labour situation for contractors, the other labour union always votes as the management votes…”. The officer stated that it is in the direct interest of contract workers to become permanent workers, and many workers asked Kahutindo to make requests for permanent positions. “The situation with many trade unions severely threatens our work to carry out the decent work agenda”, the officer reinforced.


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8.3 Workers’ rights The contract and sub-contract workers situation remain in focus in this section. It draws attention to identified issues of work stability and disputes in workers’ rights.

8.3.1 Identified issues of work stability

A repeated remark during the interviews was the “blurry” situation for the factory’s contract and sub-contract workers. “It is impossible for contractors; they will not bother themselves with any of the contract workers”, referring to the management. Another officer argued that “the management think there can be problems, so they do not want contractors to become union members. Then they will rightly know their rights, and that is bad for the management”.

The company fought tooth and claw to hinder their contract workers to be promoted to permanent positions. This subject caused a split between Kahutindo and the management.

“Contracting is a problem between Kahutindo and the management right now. The management does not want them to join. There are different rights amongst the workers. It is still an issue, as the management forbids them to take part” in a trade union, and the situation is “…extremely bad for the contract workers, but extremely good for the company”.

In theory, contract workers could become permanent workers. However, one female officer described that while “It is possible, but first must the contractors be members of a labour union, which they are not allowed to be by the company”. Another officer elucidated how Kahutindo had liaised with the management on the very same issue.

“We have indeed tried. It is like a betrayal for the management, the officers are betraying them, and have threatened that very bad things will happen, as they will resign the contract workers. It is like a dilemma. If the management gets a problem, they will resign them all. But Kahutindo is still responsible for the contract workers. We have fought for them many times”.

Hence, the employment stability lingered a major challenge for the future. Kahutindo saw no other way than to push on, hoping to convince the management to change its


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behaviour in the future. An officer with knowledge and insight into human rights and labour regulations, explained how:

“According to the labour regulations in Indonesia, after contractors have been workers for two years for the same company, and they signed three contracts, they will automatically become permanent with some consideration from the management. It is still down to the management. But the truth is that the management does not follow these terms, they do not want either contractors or sub-contractors as permanent staff, to have to pay extra for them. You find people who worked as contractor for years and years; they never became permanent, even after ten years”.

Furthermore, Kahutindo had tried several times to negotiate with the management, as they considered the three months contracts to be too short. In their opinion, the three months contracts should be made into at least six months or one year contracts. Contracts, which in due time could be transformed into permanent positions “with a fair play from the workers side”. In vast contrast was the situation for permanent workers, who Kahutindo had managed to negotiate stable work contracts for.

8.3.2 Disputes in workers’ rights When the company stated to use sub-contract workers, Kahutindo’s officers were apprehensive about the potentially negative consequences. They reflected that the conditions in the factory had declined as the company used sub-contractors, and questioned “how can it equal improved social protection and decent working conditions. I do not see any change from the label”. For instance, sub-contractors were not entitled to the minimum wage as it depended on how many slices of plywood the worker could do during the day. The worker’s individual age and fitness level played a significant role, as a lower production capacity resulted in a lower salary.

Kahutindo evaluated that the company had come some way to achieve Core ILO conventions, whilst lumbering behind in safety and health aspects. In respect of ILO’s Core conventions, child labour was non-existing and the minimum-age limit was strictly implemented. One had to be no less than sixteen years of age to be considered as a worker. It emerged that pregnant permanent workers should be given 45 days off before they give birth and another 45 days after the birth, to make sure that both mother and baby were in good health. A female officer claimed that “the reality for us is far from this; they have much less time off, they must come back earlier to work, this is very bad”.


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Kahutindo’s officers reported of illegal firing of unwanted workers. To exemplify, three permanent workers were “reassigned”, meaning removed from their positions due to reasons that were “making no sense”. The company simply stated to Kahutindo that they no longer “believed in the three of them”. One officer told the management that “the relationship between companies and workers is not based on believing or not believing, but based on the collective agreement that was made and signed by unions and employers”. The outcome had been in favour of the company, even after Kahutindo reallocated the claim to their legal department to institute a legal claim. The setback aside, Kahutindo planned to take the unlawful firing to a court of law with assistance from their legal department.

Kahutindo battled for several years to include a free lunch, and a one hour lunch for all workers. To date, a free lunch was provided, and the workers enjoyed an hour lunch break. Nevertheless, the quality of the lunch was described as “quantity over quality”. For instance, the heavy workload for the workers required a high nutritional value. The trade unions decided to conduct research on its nutritional value, and found that it contained only half of the recommended energy value.

8.4 Social protection Social transformations and developments, such as free health care and insurance cover, often take decades to initiate, implement and evaluate. In this section, the focus lay on the accident and safety at work, and improvements in work regulation for different stakeholders.

8.4.1 Accidents and safety at the work place The deficiency of regulations and implementation of health and safety in the factory lingered a present problem. One officer described the situation as:

“Health is the big issue here, the well-being of workers is the one thing Kahutindo is very worried about. We get into trouble when we talk to the management about this. It is still a hard issue, we spoke many times to the management about it, but there has been no development in health issues”.


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The company had set up their own health clinic inside of the factory in 1989. The standard of the clinic had critically decreased over the last ten years, and critical voices argued that the same medications were prescribed to all health problems. The plant officers saw the conditions of the medical facility and the contract workers’ situation as two of the most important obstacles to overcome to attain a decent working environment in the future. One officer branded it “…a joke, this is just the fact… If you are sick in the head, stomach or foot, it’s the same medicines for all”.

On another note, the officers recognised that at least the visit to the service clinic was free and most work related injuries were sent for a check-up. When considered serious enough, the workers were reassigned to the local hospital for observation. The same rule applied to all workers, something the trade union found highly appropriate and an improvement from the company’s side.

The plant union also identified work training and sufficient safety regulations as crucial concepts to tackle in the future. These two aspects remained ominously unfulfilled, and the officers wished to engage contractors and sub-contractors in the factory’s safety drills. The work environment was described as typical for a factory, where utmost caution should be practised when operating the machinery.

Besides, multiple safety concerns were expressed over the lack of work description for contract and sub-contract workers. The officers expressed that “It always changes. They are ordered to move around in the factory, without training and skills, to a new section to operate”. A large proportion of work related injuries, according to the officers, could have been avoided if the management provided better training programs for permanent workers and embodied the remaining staff in the training. Pursuant, the obligation to provide protective equipment rested with the management. Concerned about the quality and absence of some safety related gear, one officer stated that “Sometimes, all workers are given masks, but other weeks they (the company) do not give masks…” and he continued saying that “normally, we should be given two masks per week, but I have had the same for two weeks”. Informed of an absence of safety masks for sub-contractors, the man stressed that:

"This is an important agenda for Kahutindo. This is the first time I have heard about it, this fact is something to embrace. I will report it to my colleagues, and approach the main Kahutindo office”.


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8.4.2 Social protection and health insurance Social protection was seen as a way to avoid poverty and a form of defence against financial difficulties. The officers were alarmed that individuals occurred to be outside of the social security net, as more vulnerable workers lacked means to save money to protect themselves against illnesses or future unemployment.

One of Kahutindo’s main goals was to accomplish equal labour rights for all workers, independently from position, work contract or gender. A combination of discussion and pressure was made use of in the negotiation with the management to receive a comprehensive insurance coverage for all of the factory’s staff. As it was today, only permanent workers had a consistent insurance cover. When the reports emerged to the officers, that certain contract workers were unaware of their general rights to healthcare, one officer reasoned that:

“the issue is common here, it is very typical for the people of (....),not to know how to use it, the socialisation. We never did training on public health education…in my opinion, the government is trying to get less people there. If it is going to change in the next years, it will completely depend on the government, if they create good programs for all the citizens of (...). It’s down to the government to repair this, to educate the citizens about their rights. Most of the people in (...) are not originating from here. I imagine that this citizens’ ‘information gap’ exists because the government has a good relationship with the investors, so they do not want to push for labour rights as they do not want to disappoint the investors. This is why so many regulations are not followed for labour rights”.

8.4.3 Improvements in work regulations and social development

Improvements for contractors came in 2010. “Before 2010, contract workers were not paid even if they worked overtime, but Kahutindo managed to change this for the contractors”, mentioned an officer. However, the circumstances had by far improved the most for permanent staff, which had access to health care, social and health insurances, pensions, work equipment, free time off work and other benefits.


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Nevertheless, Kahutindo considered that hardly any of the company’s workers reached what could be considered a decent living wage. One officer, which had been active in salary negotiations, had this to say about the situation:

“I think the salary follows the government rules and honestly, I know that some of the regulations for salaries are not respectable for labour standards. It is the local government that set it (the minimum wage) too low for ordinary workers to have a productive life. Today, well I think you have seen how people work on Sundays, which means that if you are a contractor, or sub-contractor, you might work 7 days a week, and still not have any savings. There is a difference on what people can earn, and what would make a decent living wage. It is not the same. The government does not take care about us, they tend to care less about us, the labour workers, and more about creating a good business climate”.

Kahutindo’s demands for salary increases had come through with support from the local government. Kahutindo thought that the discussions led to results and said “…it works. We try to negotiate with the management to pay the labour, after the standardisation of labour…”. Asked if the certification could have influenced these changes, the officers position themselves as sceptical. Concretely, twelve years ago, a permanent worker earned 800 000 Rupiahs (US$ 90) per month, which in 2011 had risen to almost the double. The plant union identified stricter government regulations and trade union negotiations, as the trigger for workers getting paid for overtime (since 2009).

Working hours had been decreased in the last few years. Many of these improvements were explained as due to “government pressure for labour standardisation for (…) and labour union pressure”. Ten years earlier, “the presence of labour regulations was almost none- existing”.

8.5 Involvement in FSC certification In general, Kahutindo’s officers held a superior insight into FSC’s certification than other workers. The plant officers concurred that FSC’s CoC certification was to ensure that wood arrived from a sustainable wood source, where concerns for the environment had been taken into account. One officer deliberated on the certifications, and mentioned how the timber could be followed through the whole chain with help of a logo to prove its progression. Some found it difficult to distinguish between FSC’s FM and FSC’s CoC certifications (and their individual scope).


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One plant officer questioned how the company had attained FSC’s CoC certification at all, as the management did not follow the standardisation for labourers in the region. In his mind, FSC could not possibly have been aware of the working conditions, and after had approved a certification for the company. Asked if he was aware if the assessor, SCS, met with Kahutindo to discuss the labourers’ situation in the factory, he answered:

“…even here I am confused, because the fact is that Kahutindo is the biggest labour union… and we have many workers as members. I do not know if the certification people met someone from the other labour unions, as we are the biggest union, and we do not know if they have been here at all, or even, if they have any idea or interest in how low labour standards are…”.

This officer’s observation turned out to be accurate, as SCS confirmed that they never had visited the factory. They referred to that it lingered outside of their guidance as an assessor for FSC’s CoC certification. Nonetheless, a counterpart at FSC claimed that they encouraged such visits to FSC certified enterprises, to avoid potential worst case scenarios and to allow SCS to have an eye on working conditions in these factories. SCS maintained that they had for a long time encouraged and, recently had welcomed FSC’s decision to include ILO’s Core conventions and OSH. In the future, according to SCS, this would likely be assessed by “that each CoC certificate holder have a written statement of commitment to avoid wood products from the five “unacceptable sources” called out in the FSC’s controlled wood standard”.

A representative from the global federation BWI, with insight into FSC’s certification and labour standards discussed the systems main flaws. Firstly, it failed to address labour conditions throughout the whole production chain, secondly, trade unions did not notice any difference in certified and uncertified companies’ approaches to labour standards, and thirdly, it failed to address the conditions for the informal labour force in an adequate manner. In contrast, the representative suggested that companies in the ‘process of a certification’ displayed the most dedication and willingness to improve, for instance, the safety and health at the workplace and to provide other social benefits to their staff members, in order to become certified. He stressed that BWI regularly attended meetings, conferences etc. together with FSC and that these issues had been up for discussions multiple times. In his opinion, reports about child labourers in the production (in other FSC certified companies), trade union busting (outside, illegal interference with the trade unions organisation, normally on the initiative of the employer) and fatalities due to too low safety standards, regularly were overlooked. In addition, he reported that there existed not sufficient correction mechanisms to deal with incongruences and for the accounting and reporting of these issues to FSC.


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Controversially, none of the plant officers saw a correlation of social improvements with the time at which the company received their CoC certification. Instead, the plant officers pointed at firmer legislations from the government and an ISO 9000 certification that was awarded around 2000, that these novelties stimulated to improvements in labour standards, and that the company adhered more to the “standardisation for labourers”. During one seminar on forest certification, one officer had learnt that “FSC certification is something you have when you give a good management for workers, and when you are concerned about the environment”. The certification enabled the company to claim that the wood arrived from “a good, non-forbidden place”. According to the officers, it meant that the company follows the regulations for forestry, how to cut and to replant trees. Moreover, several officers showed promotional material, power points and information rapports received through Kahutindo’s main branch and declared that Kahutindo sent them to participate in different national events to learn about FSC and its purpose. In this chapter, it was revealed how trade union membership was forbidden for contract and sub-contract workers and questions of interference from the management side in trade unionisation were raised. Different conditions were found depending on work contracts and improvements were mainly put down to be government initiatives. Furthermore, safety and health standards were described as having declined since the company received the certification.

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9. Decent Work through FSC Certification?

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The broader objective of this research was to gain empirical insight into and to elucidate what social impacts the introduction of FSC certification has had to date for different stakeholders.

The analysis starts with an examination of the stakeholders’ present socioeconomic situation and existing working conditions. The section evaluates if, in fact, decent working and living conditions are found amongst the staff in an FSC certified company and in the forest concession area for indigenous communities. This is followed by a very brief assessment of the reasons behind the found changes. Afterwards, the analysis moves on to examine and evaluate the stakeholders’ understanding, involvement and perception of FSC’s certification system, with the intention to clarify individuals’ knowledge of, and opportunity to involvement in eco-labelling initiatives. The discussion ends with an evaluation of the plant union’s role in and experience of FSC certification (mainly CoC) and its prospects to improve working conditions and achieve decent work objectives for multiple stakeholders.

9.1 One company, two certifications, many problems The results received through interviews with different stakeholders indicate that FSC’s certifications affect different individuals in opposed ways. The changes were ranging from non-identifiable, to highly augmented situations for some stakeholders. The findings support that firstly, the type of FSC certification per se do not influences the perceivable impacts for workers, but rather for the indigenous communities. Secondly, the kind of work contract for employees plays a prominent role in the determination of social regression or progression for individuals’ working and living conditions, where the company seemed to demonstrate a greater interest in their own workers than in the remaining staff. Thirdly, that OSH concerns remain a major challenge to address throughout the whole production chain.


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9.1.1 Prevailing working and socioeconomic situation for workers

According to Bartley (2003) and Jaklopovich (2009), Sustainable Forest Management regards so much more than simply the environmental management of forests. FSC certification, as an ‘environmental governance’ system, was started with the intention to hinder rapid deforestation in tropical forests. Today, FSC has evolved into what Remetsteiner and Simula (2003), Taylor (2005) and WCFSD (1999), describe as a ‘soft policy’ tool and a ‘market-based social change’ instrument, promoting social transformations, defeating social injustices and aiming to seriously challenge hyper-exploitation of labour. Whilst the result presented from indigenous communities within the forest concession to a certain level are in line with such claims, the results from interviews with staff in the FSC certified factory, contradict the same.

A diverse range of individuals from the company’s workforce, including permanent, contract and sub-contract workers at the factory, as well as permanent, contract and village workers in the forest concession, witnessed of different treatment from the company’s part depending on their type of work situation. The employment stability, rights at work, work training, safety and health, social protection and socio-economic development, were revealed superior for permanent workers in contrast to additional staff, especially in regard to sub-contractors at the factory, and for village workers in the forest concession. As social aspects had been excluded from one important part of FSC certification, the Chain of Custody contained nothing that explicitly defined an FSC certified company’s moral obligations towards its workforce. Hence, little hindered conditions in line with those found in multi-national companies’ factories (Nike, BP) to be exposed.

9.1.1.1 Employment stability

Whilst studying labour relations and working conditions, one finds a difference in treatment of directly employed workers and sub-contract workers. To exemplify, permanent workers’ employment security clearly surpassed that of their fellow workers. The ability to join a trade union, whose plant officers handled the negotiations for long-term, permanent work contracts, stood in strong contrast to the recent informalisation of the workforce through sub-contracting out the production. Such actions, described as a common practice in a neo-economic environment and a universal adaptation process by multiple multinational companies by BWI (2006), have overturned and jeopardised labour standards in outsourcing countries


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As Fairbrother & Snell formerly debated, employment conditions in global production systems enable companies to avoid labour laws and regulations important for the protection against exploitation of the labour force (2010). In agreement with the debate of ICFTU (2003) and ILO (2001), the results exposed how the majority of contractors and sub-contractors laboured either without, or on questionable short-term contracts, without the ability to have their contracts transformed into permanent contracts. Even more ominous, threats and implementation of these threats remained a present feature in the FSC certified factory. Reports from the plant union officials confirmed unlawful firings of three permanent workers owing to that the company ‘did not believe in them’, and threats to fire all workers if their legal rights were imposed upon the company from the plant union’s side. These finding were confirmed by contract and sub-contract workers, whom attested of unlawful firings of their fellow contract colleagues, after they demanded their legal rights. It affected these workers’ emotional wellbeing and health, and kept these workers on their toes, scared of being absent in cases of sickness, as they knew that they would be replaced by someone else and perhaps even lose their work.

Whilst certification systems such as Fairtrade and FSC try to establish long-term, secure and non-exploitive working conditions, the fallouts indicated a reversed situation. People laboured for decades without having their legal right to permanent work respected, and their work instability was further augmented by the fact that they had to “…rely on the management’s benevolence” to obtain an extension of their three months contracts, causing stress and anxiety amongst these workers. To not possess a permanent contract meant not only emotional stress, but also a financial burden. Owing to the absence of work right, contract and sub-contract workers could be without work for days and were also refused rights (pension, health care, work training and so forth), which they would had attained in a permanent position.

A similar situation was discovered in the forest concession for contract workers and for the villagers hired by the company. It became obvious that the company violated its agreement on several point, where it should had followed SmartWoods 10 P&C (as well as FSCs). These state that contract workers should receive the same treatment as the permanent staff. Wages and other settlements (health, retirement, worker’s compensation, housing, food) for both, full-time staff and contractors should have been consistent with existing local standards. This is what Colchester (2006) named ‘Step wise certification’, which he claimed to be a prominent feature in forest certification systems. A company might not have to comply with all elements to pass the certification, and Colchester argued that companies were encouraged to gradually bring themselves up to meet FSC’s 10 P&C.

Such were the stakes for the sub-contractors that they laboured entirely without work contracts. Nussbaum (2001) described in her study similar findings, where she


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claimed that problems that arose out of the contract environment cumulate in short-term contracts and inadequate job security. Nussbaum remarked that problems with the social security for different workers hired through third-party contractors are very present. In similarity to the study’s results, these workers were believed to be covered by national laws and regulations, which for the majority was not the case. The work instability caused people to fall into poverty, where they struggled to provide the most immediate needs for their families. Even the sub-contract agency openly encouraged sub-contractors to find other work possibilities and described the workers’ prospects as ”extremely bad”, in clear contrast to the profitable situation for the company. It was discovered that work security, in this case, had little to do with the type of certification (no labour conditions vs. included). Instead, it was down to the workers’ work contract, where permanent benefitted the most, and sub-contractors and village workers landed behind.

9.1.1.2 Rights at work It was once more confirmed that workers had very different rights, mainly due to the form and conditions of their work contract rather than the type of certification as such. Whilst few workers had acknowledged and respected rights (permanent, and to some degree contractors), the remaining workers (in the factory and forest area) were denied, at least partly, their rights as labourers.

To demonstrate, whilst permanent workers included in FSC’s FM and CoC had received (unpaid) work training and promotions, the remaining work groups had been either forbidden to partake in or simply not been offered any training opportunities. Sadly, but of little revelation, similar results were established in an ILO report from 2010, which claims that 99 percent of all forest workers never received any form of work training.

The low concern over workers’ safety and health remains one of the major problems to tackle for decent work. The findings, that only permanent workers held a clear work description, put questions into the company’s stand on workers’ safety and well-being and the implementation of OSH.

Noticeably, there existed no impetus from the management to progress workers’ safety or to develop workers’ programs or monitoring workers’ safety or health. It becomes clear that OSH need to be included in FSC’s CoC certification, due to the dangerous work environment in the factory.


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Nussbaum (2001) reported on similar findings, when she stated that the safety and health of contract workers stand out as “probably the biggest concern for both certification bodies and trade unions…” as companies’ workers often are ”…largely unskilled, working for companies which provide some or all of the labour to forest companies”. In addition, a clear majority of workers were scared for their own safety at work. Their concerns were caused by their own and their family’s health concerns, where respiratory problems from saw dust, fumes and soot caused major problems. That contractors lacked appropriate equipment for chemical handling was further discouraging, and moreover, sub-contractors had sometimes not even the most basic safety equipment in form of a protective mask. Hazards from the work equipment, falling trees and a questionable quality of, or entirely missing safety equipment, raises questions of how such a job could be described as decent. Individuals even commented that their previous, uncertified companies, had made it compulsory to wear safety equipment and that all workers, no matter of contract, received the protective equipment free of charge. Forastieri wrote that it is:

“…evident that high productivity and quality employment can only be reached when requirements for the prevention of accidents and diseases and the protection of workers’ health and welfare are integrated in the management of the production process” (Forastieri, 1999:1-2).

Sadly, the results indicated that what ILO (2005) already confirmed, namely that the prevention of workers getting ill/having an accident at the first place, lingered a distant reality. Bringing to mind to Hiscox and Smyth’s (2011) study, their conclusions highlighted that customers would be willing to pay for products that they could identify as made under good working conditions abroad. However, hazardous work environments and workers’ rights are supposedly areas where FSC certification could improve the situation, inside both the factory and the forest concession.

In the report on FSC’s scope and obligations of the Chain of Custody certification, FSC (2007) discussed its own restrictions and potential scope for the future. FSC highlighted that fundamental human rights, such as the exclusion of child labour and safety at work, did not transpire the whole way through the certification chain and the situation had remained dim and diffuse in the context of human capita. Socio-conscious companies could potentially abandon all collaboration if, for instance, hazardous working conditions were to be found inside of a FSC certified premises. The results from this study support actions to implement OSH standards into the CoC certification and to find appropriate support mechanisms to deal with incongruences especially from ILO


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Core conventions and Occupational Safety and Health issues. Workers’ rights might best be assessed with the workers themselves, or through a trade union active at the specific location.

9.1.1.3 Social protection and socio-economic development It was during the ‘reformasi’ period in 1998 that the Indonesian government decided to allocate a large number of social assistance to its citizens, most notably in form of social security nets, education and health services. Whilst such initiatives have brought numerous improvements, the fact remains that 83 percent of workers in Indonesia stand without any social insurance covering pension, occupational accidents or death. Essentially, many workers on short-term, informal work contracts have slipped through the security system. Ghai however, rightly argues that the concept of decent work must underwrite decent living (2006) and an ILO report accentuated how substantial social procedures must be in place to guarantee the transformation of decent work into decent living (2001). However, the reality for the company’s workers exposed itself as far from what anyone would insist to be decent.

In accordance to Barrientos & Smith (2007), ILO (1997) pretense, the results exposed how employment benefits for workers in form of insurance, pension schemes, illness coverage, holiday pay and childbirth coverage, extended only to the companies’ permanent staff. Contract workers, both in the factory and in the forest, as well as sub-contractors and village workers, had considerably inferior rights. Permanent workers claimed that they felt secure, used their health insurance for themselves and their family when they were sick, and got reimbursed when they were home sick from work. In contrast, a few contract workers had wrongly been denied time off work for sickness, deprived of their legally entitled insurance, whilst sub-contractors simply had been told that they worked completely on their own risk. This left a male contractor on the wrong medications, without proper hospital attention, and coming scarily close to perish before his conditions were treated correctly, with the help of Kahutindo and on the free government provided insurance.

This revelation was followed by the fact that the company allowed deteriorating conditions and labour standards for sub-contract workers to take place in the last three years. This finding could arguably indicate that labour standards, in fact, are decreasing rather than improving in an FSC certified company. The problem for the future is for FSC to thoroughly address such practices for certified companies.

Ghai (2002), mentions how the concept “of decent work is applicable not just to workers in the formal economy but also to ‘unregulated wage workers, the self-employed and home workers”. This notion remained imperfect, as only few permanent workers


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reach the ascribed living wage of two million Rupiahs per month. In reality, some sub-contractors and village workers lived on three to four times less than the adequate salary level. Even for permanent workers, few considered that their salary allowed them to live a decent life, but acknowledged that they at least had the opportunity to save for future calamities. For the remaining workforce, the low, insufficient salaries resulted in that people considered themselves unable to ever retire. Partly as they lacked a pension scheme, partly as they needed to work as much as possible to continue to support their family’s most fundamental needs, such as housing, food, water and school fees. The free lunch meal was of encouragement for the workers, as some sub-contractors lacked the ability to afford any other food items. A major improvement in the workers’ minds came from a work hour reduction and paid overtime. Previous, exhausting working weeks had been reduced to follow the region’s standards, to the workers’ joy and excitement, and which had created time for family and friends.

9.1.1.4 Social dialogue Excluding the company’s permanent staff, the results indicated that the company violated the workers’ rights to trade union membership, to collective bargaining and to freedom of association. For instance, ILO’s Core conventions of the right to organise and collective bargaining, and freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, clearly state that anyone, without distinction, and subjected to only the organisation in question, can join a trade union without the authorisation or interference of the employer in question. Such practices severely hindered Kahutindo’s ability to organise workers, provide workers with appropriate social protection and to establish a social dialogue between the workers and the company.

Whereas permanent staff expressed pleasure of their current situation, this was overshadowed by the finding that neither contractors or sub-contractors, nor village workers, could join the trade union. Following on George’s (1999:1) assertion, one should not take light hearted upon such matters, as the “….alienation and surrender of the product of decades of work by thousands of people to a tiny minority of large investors”, resulted in an increased possibility to be evicted from such as system, especially for already unprotected workers.

Clarke found similar results in her recent study from 2011, where she examined changes in labour practices in FSC-certified plantations. In resemblance with Clarke’s study, the deprivation of trade unionisation severely diminished the chances for contract and sub-contract workers to negotiations and collective bargaining, leaving these individuals ill-informed of their legal rights, whilst extra vulnerable to abuse and made an easy target for exploitation.


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The company’s initial attitude towards trade union membership had been to fight against it. Since the company had to back down, it permitted only permanent staff and with a few exceptions contractors on one year contracts to join. Thus, even FSC’s FM certification failed to facilitate trade union membership for contractors and village workers, even though SmartWood’s 10 P&C explicitly state that contractors should have the same rights as permanent workers. Hence, the company’s efficacy to intervene in labour relations had hardly diminished at either of the certified work places. Reassuringly, FSC informed that the company in effect lost its certification in 2011 (for unknown reasons), as it did not meet up to FSC’s high standards.

For permanent workers, trade union membership was recognised as an obvious part of their rights as employees, and they stated grievances or requests about future salary increases, discrimination claims, and health issues. However, even without trade union membership, some of the workers knew that they indeed could turn to the trade union with grievances or requests about safety issues, the quality of the lunch, etc. It was mainly the sub-contract workers whom lingered oblivious of their prospect to speak to Kahutindo’s officials, even as non-members. As some of the plant officials reported that they received threats of dismissals of workers if they included contract workers into their organisation, Kahutindo could not report such findings to, for instance, the FSC assessor SCS. When putting it into perspective, if a trade union strives to cultivate a sturdy, strong labour movement, the workplace standards need to be strengthen through affiliations, improvements in working conditions and enacted amongst governments.

9.1.2 FSC and Indigenous communities, a success story As FAO previously conveyed, a sustainable management of the world’s forests concerns so much more than ecological aspects. Thus, the socio-economical function of forest resources for the overall economy has a huge potential to facilitate decent work prospects. Novel work prospects, trade and investments in the forest sector, together with environmental protection, land tenure, indigenous people and traditional knowledge appears indispensable. Especially community relations and the rights of indigenous people appear to be a fact that FSC has taken emphasis on and addressed in its 10 P&C.

After the rather gloomy accounts which encircled the findings from the FSC certified company’s workforce, much better fallouts were reported by the two indigenous communities.

To exemplify, the relationship between the company and the communities drastically improved after the initiation of the certification process. They described an improved access to their land and perceived their land tenure rights. Furthermore,


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cultural rights were respected and an augmented socioeconomic development had reduced both child mortality and poverty.

At the time when operational companies developed the infrastructure surrounding the villages, it had facilitated access to previously highly dense forest areas. At the beginning of the company’s logging in the 1980s, many disputes and clashes took place between different stakeholders. The disputes centred on ownership over, and access to large forest areas, where on one side the company held a valid logging permit, and on the other hand, the communities claimed the right to their forefathers land. Colchester (2004) and Peluso (1992a), claimed the reason of the delicate matter on the department of forestry in Jakarta. The ministry predictable the financial potential of its forestry sector, and allowed to open up multiple concession areas to commercial operators without allowing for forest dependent communities living in its precinct.

Today, earlier disputes had been put aside, and mutual agreements stating the conditions of the communities and the company’s association had been formed. The agreement recognised the communities’ rights to their land (forests, rivers, land). Timber was only harvested after an approved arrangement and paid for in cash or in kind, for instance, in the form of housing and motors. This result is of importance, as it highlights FSC’s strength as an instrument for conflict resolution between certain stakeholders. Findings from the villages were further confirmed via talks to the replanting officer. He established that the involvement of communities is a much more present feature of the forestry today than it used to be.

In contrast to Colchester’s (2004) findings, which exposed that forest communities often became impoverished, a substantially higher socioeconomic welfare was uncovered amongst the villages’ inhabitants. Even more promising results revealed that previous social disruption, land invasion and loss of livelihoods had been turned into profitable economical agreements, where areas of cultural and spiritual significance were respected.

Albeit not all changes had positive connotations (disruption of the environment, palm oil plantations), these were made up by the social development and progression for many families. However, despite the great economic and social developments, the fact persisted that these communities still lacked access to clean water, adequate financial funds and sometimes medication.

In addition, as the company followed the standards set up by FSC, they had both previously and presently hired villagers to work for their enterprise. As previously expressed, such collaboration had met with great optimism and was highly appreciated. However, when looked at from FSC’s 10 P&C, the company failed to follow many aspects of their association.


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9.1.3 Assessment of the reasons behind the changes Probably unnecessary to repeat, especially indigenous communities (through cultural, social, political and economic improvements) and village workers (through being offered work) recognised immense improvements since the initiation process of FSC’s FM certification.

In comparison, few or maybe more accurately none of the improvements for workers in FSC’s CoC certification could be linked to the specific certification. Improvements for permanent and contact workers in employment stability had taken place the same year as the company’s CoC certification. However, both workers and Kahutindo’s officials attributed it to a tougher stand from the local government encouraged by trade unions. Trade unionisation had already been allowed in 1998 for the permanent workers, several years before the certification of the factory, facilitated by the Indonesian ‘reformasi’ period. As Manning and Van Diermen (2000) gathered, this development allowed for NGOs, political parties and trade unions alike “…to play a much more active role in society…” (2000:1).

Social developments apart, Indonesia’s economic crisis in 1999 saw drastic declines in employment opportunities and the instability forced many workers into the informal sector characterised by deteriorating work security, shorter work contracts and lower pay checks. To add to the injury, the forestry sector has met with many problems due to lower production capacities, making outsourcing a lucrative financial move for many companies. As very prominent in the results, the consequence of such moves where borne heavily by contract and sub-contract workers, which settles with Manning and Van Diermen (2000:9) reasoning that:

“… there has been a shift in the nature of work from full-time to casual jobs. Such measures provide greater flexibility for businesses to respond to fluctuations in demand, but they also increases job insecurity”.

Thus, the safety and health at the workplace was almost the same as before the certification, where hazardous working conditions were still a normal, everyday encounter for the workers.

Some of the workers at the factory’s harbour had not been provided with safety equipment prior to 2004. Others claimed that the safety and health had deteriorated around 2004 when the new management took over in the company. This was especially due to the increased use of workers without satisfactory work contracts. Improvements for social welfare, notably in salary increases for all workers, in work-hour regulations (decreased hours of work), and in over-time compensation, were once again established to be down to the local government’s programs, rather than what was described by


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Overdevest (2010) as FSC’s environmental governance system. The notion of taking these findings serious is great. Likewise to Eden and Bear, 2010) and Jordan et al., (2003), it adds questions to the discussion of what potential a certification has to ‘fill in the regulatory gap’ in environmental management. Monbiot (2001), for example, remained so optimistic of certifications’ influential powers that he argued that“…consumers can press the companies to be more capable than the weakening governments”. In this case, it seemed more correct to follow WCFSD’s (1999) description, simply defining forest certification systems as one of the most powerful ‘soft policy’ instrument to be designed and implemented external to government, rather than apart or instead of such institutions.

Moreover, the presented findings on social security cover and protection highlighted a distinct problem. Social security cover was instituted by the government for its citizens in form of a ‘Jamsosteak’ insurance that the company should provide for its workers. Furthermore, the government offered free healthcare to all citizens in possession of a government provided health-card, which on another note, workers lacked knowledge about. Such issues were not even addressed by FSC at the moment, leaving room for companies to exploit these loopholes. As Eden and Bear (2010) remarked, it remains not clear how an organisation, such as FSC, best should implement their standards in varying geographical settings, and fit these into international supply chains where the standards can be proven and guaranteed.

9.2 Workers’ participation, an issue of exclusion The results of this study support at least partial failure to include stakeholders from all walks of life, through the entire certification chain. However, what is the importance of involvement in, and knowledge of matters of environmental degradation and forest certification systems? And, why is it not sufficient to only deliver environmentally and socially conscious customers with such information that enables them to uncover the concealed history of a product’s production routines?

Following on Eden and Bear’s (2010) reasoning, the advantage of providing customers with an eco-label is that it encourages environmental and social choices by promoting certified product. One absent, but important component which came to the fore in this discussion, relates to the involvement of different stakeholders in certification. Missing the mark to include and encourage individuals affected by such eco-labelling systems through the entire certification, certain stakeholders might be excluded.


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Talking about people’s inclusion and exclusion from political decisions, Robbins (2004) and Peluso (1992a) reinforced that power and knowledge were two crucial and highly intertwined concepts. For instance, members of the communities had met with both SmartWood and the company to discuss the certification and received knowledge on their rights as part of the native Dyaks in the region. They had been consulted and were aware of that a re-certification process was underway and spoke about the environmental considerations that had to be taken into considerations. Whilst the communities had met the certification agency and been informed by SmartWood assessors of their right, such was clearly not the case for workers.

For the factory workers, uncertainties and confusion vis-à-vis SmartWood’s (not the FSC CoC) logo roamed around its scope. Individuals connected its scope to a high wood standard and denoted how the management knew more of its real content. One worker suspected that the management withheld the real meanings of the certification from the staff. Few connected it to having an ‘FSC existence’, and none had been contacted, informed or had received any additional information from the certification body SCS. An interesting observation was that whilst the management made little effort to involve workers in its proceedings, Kahutindo had instead made it their business to inform workers.

Interestingly, but little astounding, workers involved at the replanting area showed a better knowledge of the SmartWood certification’s ecological side, and claimed the company to be very particular about the ecological aspect. One worker even suggested that there probably were no social aspects involved, based on the rough and dangerous conditions for forest workers, with the exception of indigenous communities. These findings have severe effects for workers, who in fact, remain ignorant of their rights and what they can demand from the company. Further, it would be exceedingly difficult for these individuals to present non-conformities of the certification to SCS or FSC. These observations were confirmed by a BWI representative that held it difficult to report correctional issues to FSC.

The main reason why Kahutindo’s officers had knowledge of the certifications was through their national department, which arranged conferences, meetings and other events to educate their officers on both environmental and social issues and the scope of forest certification systems. Kahutindo’s plant officers knew more about FSC certification than the remaining staff, and meant that if only SCS had visited the factory, they would remove the certification today due to the deficiency of implementation of labour standards and OSH.

On another note, many stakeholders held a pronounced concern of the environmental degradation in their region. In general, the stakeholders showed a sturdy apprehension about changes in the surrounding environment, especially in a lack of waste disposal facilities, polluted waterways and illegal logging in the area. The concern


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had been transformed into actions, in form of tree replanting events and the formation of environmental groups. Supporting environmental organisations was not without its dangers and could even be associated with losing one’s life. This and other findings backed the existence of a strong environmental perception, where people recognised the causes (deforestation), the consequences (flooding) and the corrective actions (replanting, environmental programs). As such, people were not ignorant or indifferent to the environmental problems that FSC tried to address, but rather excluded from its involvement.

Even the encouraging novelties of including ILO’s Core conventions and OSH in FSC’s CoC, create a discussion of how these stakeholders will be able to report potential violations in the future. For one reason, many of the contract and sub-contract workers lacked insight of their legal rights as labourers to date, and had no previous understanding of what the certifications entailed. If FSC is adamant to safeguard consumers that appropriate actions at least have been tried, visits to the location including discussions with affected parties are paramount. This proclamation is in line with that of Bowling (2003), whom reported on the difficulties for certification bodies to perform visits to the forest operators and other companies on a regular basis, sometimes only once a year. Bowling highlights the importance of workers’ participation in certification, and how these individuals can provide an instrument to expose non-conformities.

FSC’s idea to confirm through a written statement companies intentions to follow the new social aspects in CoC certification, sound both doubtful and intangible based on Bowling’s reasoning and this report’s findings.

9.3 Wrapping it up; the trade union’s impression The results from the interviews with Kahutindo’s plant union officers mainly confirmed the results obtained from the workers’ in the factory. Whilst the trade union saw improvements for permanent workers, the relatively recent activity of sub-contracting meant a severe obstacle to achieve ILO’s decent work agenda. In their opinion, decent work was something on its way forward, but with a long path and many impediments to overcome on its way. In addition, the trade union had not seen any change in the company’s attitude after the FSC certification.

Especially the questions of OSH, social protection and short-term contracting needed to be addressed. A highly interesting observation was that the trade union found no improvements in working conditions from the FSC CoC certification, and little or


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none from FSC’s FM certification, at least indicating that social improvements for workers derived from other sources than the certification per se. These findings could be viewed in conjunction to the BWI representative who stated that trade unions failed to notice a difference in certified and uncertified companies’ approaches to labour standards, and even suggested that companies in the process of a certification normally showed the most dedication to improve, in order to become certified.

9.3.1 Environmental governance and social government? The shift from government to governance, that according to Eden and Bear (2010) and Jordan et al., (2003) replaces the state’s traditional policymaking with stakeholder debates, was not found in this case. As evaluated by both permanent and contract workers in addition to the plant union, the government was the foundation to the improved state of affairs. The government used social programs to raise the social welfare for the region’s inhabitants, partly concluded by allowing and facilitating trade unionisation, free healthcare, minimum wages, work hours regulation and so forth.

This remark should be seen in the context of just how important alliances between multiple stakeholders, in fact are. As Taylor (2004) described, FSC is an establishment formed by multiple stakeholders, which enables alliances to take shape between the wood industry, environmental organisations, trade unions and forest product users. In retrospective, successful relations between FSC and local governments also appear vital to establish common agendas. A good example of when such relations clearly have missed the mark, is the replanting of palm oil on what used to be forested land. The plantation of palm oil on the communities’ land was both encouraged and sponsored by the local government. As suggested by many scholars such as Pin Koh and Wilcove (2008), palm oil production is widely held as a major contributor to forest degradation and deforestation. When adding Gandenberger et al., (2011) and Bartley’s (2003) reasoning, the results revealed how imperative it is for different actors to form ‘certification networks’ for ethical sourcing initiatives such as forest certification to work combined, where priority should be given to include worker groups. Further research could with advantage focus on to disentangle this problematic.


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9.3.2 Issues to address in social dialogue Even though the plant union described its collaboration with the management as functioning, there evidently persisted several challenges, especially concerning labour standards, labour laws, disregards to some of ILO’s Core conventions whilst respecting other (child labour) and interference with trade unionisation.

As outlined by the ILO, collective bargaining and freedom of association should have been allowed and the two Core conventions were further well-established in ILO’s decent work agenda. That the trade union was allowed to partake in collective bargaining is encouraging, whilst the findings that the company interfered with whom that could become a member was more disturbing. Also distressingly was the discovery that in an FSC certified factory, unlawful firings of both permanent and contract workers took place. Such circumstances alone would put question marks on if such a work could be qualified as decent, and further more down to that the company’s threats of resigning the whole contract workforce.

A specific difficult dilemma was described by Kahutindo. The company threatened to fire all contract workers if Kahutindo enforced the company to follow Indonesia’s national laws and regulations. The law specified that after contractors had signed a work contract three times, they should automatically become permanent workers, something which clearly was disregarded, as people laboured on short-term, insecure work contract for more than ten years. Whilst FSC require in its 10 P&C that national laws and regulations are followed for their FM certification, the same will not be addressed in the new social criteria for the CoC certification, leaving space for unscrupulous companies to take advantage of its gap and shortcomings.

In addition, workers not only lacked insight into what FSC certification stood for, but further lacked information of their own right as labourers, a fact that potentially could be misused by the management. Therefore, most contract workers still laboured on unstable work contracts that did not provide them with any extended feeling of safety.

A further problem to tackle, which was hindering the process of improving labour conditions, was the presence of three trade unions at the same factory. For instance, reports figured that the other trade unions were managed by the company, something worth looking into, whilst taken with a pinch of salt due to their individual disagreements. More encouraging findings represented that Kahutindo was free to solve disputes between the workforce and the management, to handle particular cases for the workers, including non-permanent staff, as exposed in the case with the ill contract worker, and to present their members’ wishes (salary increases, health and security issues) in a social dialogue with the management.


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9.3.3 The missed opportunity; safety and health on decline Bowling (2003) remarked how the safety and health of contract workers stand out as “probably the biggest concern for both certification bodies and trade unions…”. In agreement with Bowling’s statement, Schyvens et al., (2007) also found that more vulnerable workers acquired no additional protection through the certification. In conformity with both Schyvens et al., and Bowling, the results from the plant union confirmed the fact that the low level of safety and health was even worse for contract and sub-contract workers, due to an absence of adequate social insurances. The findings from the plant union officers, as well as from the workers, indicated a decline in workers’ health and safety, rather than an increase.

Kahutindo’s plant union highlighted the safety and health problematic as a major concern for all workers, and referred to discussions, on multiple occasions with the management without coming to an agreement. As Colchester (2006) already established, forest certification aims to gradually improve the forest operators’ social and ecological management, leaving room for these types of issues to linger even after a certification. As Boström (2010) displayed, this sort of findings are found due to that FSC has focused on labour standards in their forest operations, whilst turning a blind eye to working conditions in wood working factories.

By making safety and health and social protection of secondary importance and rejecting to address the issue in FSC certification, FERN (2001) argues that in order to influence consumers’ decision process, certifications must impose social aspects from the forest until the product reaches the shop. Hence, the failure to include workers’ rights through the certification chain resulted in insufficient work descriptions and a lack of power to augment social aspects through the whole chain.

To conclude, in order for an eco-label to provide socially conscious consumers with reliable proof of a certification’s ethical substance:

“…it is necessary to certify the ‘chain of custody’, including log transport, processing, shipping and further processing. To allow consumers to make a choice with positive impacts, a reliable chain of custody is essential. Without this, there is nothing to link the product to the certified forest“ (FERN, 2001:27).

As shown, the new social criteria in FSC’s CoC certification does not guarantee that companies follow all national laws and regulations, and likewise, the conditions found inside the FSC certified forest concession also require attention. Especially safety and health issues and conditions for non-permanent workers must be amended and addressed in the future, and the lack of workers’ involvement and knowledge of both FSC


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certification and their legal rights. Besides, involvement needs to be more fundamental for all stakeholders, operative certification networks extended, and sufficient mechanisms to report incongruences to meet FSC’s standards.

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10. Conclusions

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10. Conclusions To address global environmental concerns over rapid deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics, forest certification systems were instigated in the 1990s. Amongst the most prominent certification systems, one finds the Forest Stewardship Council which has become a world leader in its field. Today, environmental governance systems such as FSC’s, have transformed from their initial environmental focus to include social standards, leading authors to refer to FSC as a ‘soft policy’ tool and a ‘market-based social change’ instrument, promoting social transformations, defeating social injustices and aiming to seriously challenge hyper-exploitation of labour.

However, FSC has until recently had two different certifications, with two different purposes. The Forest Management certification covers the forest concession area and includes social and environmental standards, whilst the Chain of Custody certification solely tracks where the wood comes from until it reaches the consumers to ensure that the wood does not get mixed up with illegal sources.

When a company has passed a certification process, it is awarded FSC’s certification and eco-label, which states that it meets up to FSC’s standards. At the same time, socially and environmentally conscious consumers are supposed to be willing to distinguish and select between what at first looks like two identical products, but which, in fact, has two very different production processes. However, FSC has received hefty critique as it failed to include social standards, such as ILO’s Core conventions and Occupational Safety and Health in its CoC certification. This research set out to explore how the inclusion of social standards in the FM certification, but the exclusion of such standards in the CoC had affected different stakeholders, including factory workers, forest workers and indigenous communities.

The research was conducted through interviews with multiple stakeholders, together with the Indonesian trade union Kahutindo’s plant divisions. The broader objective of the research was to gain empirical insight into and to elucidate what social impacts the introduction of FSC certification has had to date for different stakeholders. It was built upon ILO’s notion of decent work, which should transform into a decent living. A political ecology approach was used to let different affected stakeholders’ opinions and awareness of an instrument primarily considered for environmental conservation to come to light, in a world where environmental problems undertake mounting political attention. The strength of the approach lay in that it allowed insight into how different actors, such being forest certification bodies, trade unions, institutes, indigenous communities and workers, shaped control and access over forest resources which influenced the use of natural resources.

10. Conclusions

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Therefore, the research examined, from the perspective of different involved stakeholders, how FSC certification had impacted their working conditions and social situation today, as well as what developments FSC’s certification has brought since the implementation. In addition, it studied the same stakeholders’ perception, involvement and knowledge of FSC certification and furthermore, the trade union Kahutindo’s experiences of FSC certification’s prospects to improve labour standards and to achieve decent work.

The results exposed how FSC’s certifications affect different stakeholders in very different manners with impacts ranging from non-identifiable for some to very improved for others. In addition, the plant union found no improvements in working conditions from either FSC’s CoC or FM certification, indicating that social improvements for workers derived from other sources than the certification per se.

The major finding of this study support that the type of FSC certification in itself does not influence the impacts for different work groups (permanent, contract, sub-contract and village workers), but rather for indigenous communities. The communities saw multiple positive impacts, especially in political, cultural, social and economical areas. Most notable, prior disagreements with the company concerning the right to the land were solved, and profitable economical agreement with the company resulted in increased social welfare. In comparison, none of the improvements for especially the permanent staff could be linked to the time of the specific certification.

Instead, it was the type of work contracts for employees that played a prominent role in the determination of social regression or progression for individuals’ working and living conditions. Employment stability, rights at work, social protection and right to social dialogue were superior for the company’s own permanent staff, in comparison to the company’s contract workers, and even more inferior for sub-contract workers. Prevailing dangerous, unsustainable conditions and no work contracts dominated the conditions for the sub-contract workers, who also earned far below the minimum wage, whilst contract workers had worked on three months contracts for almost a decade without the right to permanent employment.

This highlights the need for FSC to also include national laws and regulations into their new social standards in the CoC certification, something which could not be addressed by only including ILO’s Core conventions and OSH. Besides, hazardous working conditions would have to be addressed all the way through FSC’s certifications in the future, as they remain a major challenge to address in the whole production chain.

An interesting finding showed how improvements for the permanent workforce, in fact, came from government induced social programs and trade union pressure, rather than FSC certification, setting uncertainties on FSC’s ability to ‘fill in the regulatory gap’ that it is supposed to cover due to the weakening powers of governments. The government used social programs to raise the social welfare for the region’s inhabitants,

10. Conclusions

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partly concluded by allowing and facilitating trade unionisation, free healthcare, minimum wages, work hours regulation and so forth. This suggests that FSC certification should be viewed in addition to, rather than external to governmental programs and highlights the need to create strong ‘certification networks’ for ethical sourcing initiatives and to work combined, where priority should be given to include different work groups.

When talking about strong certification networks, one absent, but important component, which came to the fore in this study refers to the involvement of different stakeholders in FSC certification. The stakeholders were environmentally conscious and expressed concerns over environmental degradation in the region. Further, they could identify the causes, the consequences and took action to address the problems. However, they received no information and had no knowledge about FSC certification from neither the company or from SCS, the exception again being in favour for the indigenous communities.

Missing the mark to include and encourage individuals affected by FSC certification, resulted in that those individuals remained unaware of their legal rights and the scope of the certification. This shows that the stakeholders were neither ignorant, nor indifferent to the environmental problems that FSC tried to address, but rather excluded from its involvement. They therefore lacked the power to report incongruences to FSC’s standards and were sometimes ignorant of their legal rights as labourers. Therefore, one of the most effective ways of control is therefore lost, as people first handed affected remain outside of the loop. Workers’ participation is thus imperative in eco-labelling to ensure improvements of and submission to social standards, revealing why it is important not only to provide environmentally and socially conscious consumers with information on eco-labelling initiatives, but to extend it to different workers.

SCS’s declaration that it lay outside their obligations to visit the factory, displayed how no external insight into the prevailing labour conditions existed. Again, this highlighted that nothing could guarantee for consumers that an FSC certified product had been made under decent working conditions. The plant union had taken it upon themselves to represent members as well as non-members due to the company’s unlawful action to hinder non-permanent workers trade union membership. The results from the plant union confirmed the fact that the low level of safety and health was even worse for contract and sub-contract workers, due to an absence of adequate social insurances and safety equipment. The findings from the plant union officers, as well as from the workers, indicated a decline in workers’ safety and health, rather than improvements.

Hence, the failure to include workers’ rights through the whole certification chain resulted in insufficient work descriptions and a lack of power to augment social aspects through the whole chain. As the company failed to provide forest workers with sufficient

10. Conclusions

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social protection as well as protective equipment, denied them right to trade union membership, violated Core ILO convention, national laws and regulations, none of the approved FSC certifications could in this case be described as a decent work, resulting in a decent living. In essence, wood can be sold with an FSC eco-label, which at some point in the processing, has been without inspection, where less than acceptable labour conditions prevail and where less than decent working conditions are found. What could be the next relevant step for forthcoming studies on FSC certification in connection to enhancement of labour conditions and socioeconomic development? As exposed in this research, future studies can with advantage focus upon how the recent adapted social criteria in FSC’s CoC certification, de facto and de jure impact stakeholders that until recently have been excluded from the certification chain. Follow-up studies would further give an extra attractive insight, as the impacts an FSC certification can have upon working conditions could be studied from before the implementation as well as once the novel social criteria have come into practise.

However, new questions of a somewhat different scope can also be raised. It involves the impacts after the removal of FSC’s FM certification for, for example, indigenous communities inside the forest concession area. What are the outcomes after the subtraction of a certification that has been in practise for a decade and where agreements of land tenure and user rights have been structured?

Furthermore, as the results revealed how imperative it is for different actors to form ‘certification networks’ for ethical sourcing initiatives, further research could with advantage focus on to disentangle the problematic of governance systems and the part governments play in FSC certification, in order not to draw any hastened inference from FSC’s power as a ‘soft policy’ instrument.

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Appendices I: FSC’s 10 principles & Criteria for Forest Stewardship

I

Appendices I: FSC’s 10 principles & Criteria for Forest Stewardship FSC-STD-01-011, version 4-0 (shortened) Principle 1: Compliance with laws and FSC Principles Forest management shall respect all applicable laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all FSC Principles and Criteria. Principle 2: Tenure and use rights and responsibilities Long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall be clearly defined, documented and legally established. Principle 3: Indigenous peoples' rights The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognized and respected. Principle 4: Community relations and worker's rights Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities. Principle 5: Benefits from the forest Forest management operations shall encourage the efficient use of the forest's multiple products and services to ensure economic viability and a wide range of environmental and social benefits. Principle 6: Environmental impact Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest. Principle 7: Management plan A management plan -- appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations -- shall be written, implemented, and kept up to date. The long term objectives of management, and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated. Principle 8: Monitoring and assessment Monitoring shall be conducted -- appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management -- to assess the condition of the forest, yields of forest products, chain of custody, management activities and their social and environmental impacts. Principle 9: Maintenance of high conservation value forests3 Management activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain or enhance the attributes which define such forests. Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach. Principle 10: Plantations Plantations shall be planned and managed in accordance with Principles and Criteria 1 - 9, and Principle 10 and its Criteria. While plantations can provide an array of social and economic benefits, and can contribute to satisfying the world's needs for forest products, they should complement the management of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests.

Appendices II: SmartWood Standards

II

Appendices II: SmartWood Standards FSC Principles and Criteria & SmartWood Generic Indicators (shortened) PRINCIPLE 1: COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND FSC PRINCIPLES Forest management shall respect all applicable laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all FSC Principles and Criteria. PRINCIPLE 2: TENURE AND USE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Long-term tenure and use rights to the land and forest resources shall be clearly defined, documented and legally established. PRINCIPLE 3: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognised and respected. PRINCIPLE 4: COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND WORKER'S RIGHTS Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic wellbeing of forest workers and local communities. PRINCIPLE 5: BENEFITS FROM THE FOREST Forest management operations shall encourage the efficient use of the forest's multiple products and services to ensure economic viability and a wide range of environmental and social benefits. PRINCIPLE 6: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest. PRINCIPLE 7: MANAGEMENT PLAN A management plan -- appropriate to the scale and intensity of the operations -- shall be written, implemented, and kept up to date. The long-term objectives of management, and the means of achieving them, shall be clearly stated. PRINCIPLE 8: MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT Monitoring shall be conducted -- appropriate to the scale and intensity of forest management – to assess the condition of the forest, yields of forest products, chain of custody, management activities and their social and environmental impacts. PRINCIPLE 9: MAINTENANCE OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS Management activities in high conservation value forests shall maintain or enhance the attributes, which define such forests. Decisions regarding high conservation value forests shall always be considered in the context of a precautionary approach. PRINCIPLE 10: PLANTATIONS Plantations shall be planned and managed in accordance with Principles and Criteria 1 - 9, andPrinciple 10 and its Criteria. While plantations can provide an array of social and economic benefits, and can contribute to satisfying the world's needs for forest products, they should complement the management of, reduce pressures on, and promote the restoration and conservation of natural forests.

Appendices III: Policy for the Association of Organizations with FSC

III

Appendices III: Policy for the Association of Organizations with FSC FSC-POL-01-004 V2-0

Appendices IV: FSC standards for Chain of Custody Certification

IV

Appendices IV: FSC standards for Chain of Custody Certification FSC-STD-40-004 v2-1 EN

fsc’s chain of custody certification · tracking the wood through the whole supply chain (e.g....

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