US may block Indonesia nickel on forced labor issues

JAKARTA – The US Department of Labor has put Indonesian nickel on a list of products made using forced labor, a potential significant setback for the Southeast Asian nation’s bid to become a key global supplier of coveted battery materials for both Western and Chinese firms.

The report, which has no immediate legal or regulatory ramifications, cites press coverage and various reports by NGOs on working conditions in the nickel smelters concentrated on the islands of Sulawesi and Maluku in eastern Indonesia.

Owned and operated in partnership by Chinese and Indonesian firms, workers from both countries crew the industrial parks where they allegedly face arbitrary deduction of wages, violence, forced overtime and constant surveillance. Chinese workers also face the confiscation of passports and restrictions on their movements.

In Morowali, an area of central Sulawesi that has emerged as a hub for the industry, workers who spoke to Asia Times repeated similar allegations while also highlighting unsafe working conditions.

“We’re dealing not only with rotating machinery but with environmental problems like dust, hot steam and working at heights which often causes accidents,” says Muhammad Taufik, a worker at Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park and member of the Serikat Buruh Industri Pertambangan union. “Production is prioritized over safety.”

Between 2015 and 2023, some 91 workers died in fatal workplace accidents linked to the nickel refining industry, according to research by Trend Asia, a Jakarta-based organization that works on sustainability issues.

The worst accident was in December 2023 when a smelter explosion killed 21 workers – 13 Indonesian and 8 Chinese. The Indonesian Association of Nickel Miners did not respond