Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The sirens went off again in front of the PT IMIP office at Jl. Trans Sulawesi, Fatufia Village, Bahodopi District, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi. It came from the loudspeakers used by the Mining and Energy Industry Labor Union (SBIPE) IMIP Morowali. SBIPE was launching their first picket action at around 4:00pm WITA after previous advocacy efforts to improve the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) system were met with inaction and disregard.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a basic right of every worker and must be guaranteed by the company. However, the reality on the ground shows that work accidents still occur frequently in the IMIP area. SBIPE noted that, from February 2025 to April 2025, 9 IMIP workers have died due to workplace accidents.
Deadly workplace accidents have occurred – PT ITSS workers lost their lives after being crushed by steel coils weighing several dozen tons; PT OSMI contractors were electrocuted to death; PT MIKI workers were buried by landslides of waste residue; etc. More than that, SBIPE IMIP Morowali found that the company continued operations even after these workplace accidents have occured. This daily occurrence of workplace accidents, some of which have even claimed the lives of workers, shows how inadequate the implementation of OHS is in the IMIP area—and how it continues to be neglected, with no real efforts toward improvement. It is important to note that the official number of work accidents does not even include those involving minor injuries, which are often left undocumented and never reported to the clinic.
SBIPE has also repeatedly urged PT IMIP, through hearings and mass actions, to improve its OHS standards so as to decrease the high number of work accidents in the PT IMIP area. Because no meaningful improvements have been made, SBIPE launched this picket action – its first ever – as part of its effort to remind all IMIP workers about the importance of work safety and to protest against the continuing inadequacy of OHS in IMIP.
“This picket action today is our first one, but there will be more until the company shows its seriousness in improving the OHS system. We invite all workers to join us in this struggle so that the safety of workers becomes a priority for the company. This action is also a way of educating workers at IMIP about the importance of work safety.” Explained Henry Ford Jebs, Chairman of SBIPE IMIP Morowali.
Before the action, Henry claimed to have been contacted by several parties via phone after the news about the picket action had spread. Some of these parties were asking about the plans of the action, others were asking SBIPE to postpone or reconsider it. However, SBIPE stood firm because they believe that the improvement of the OHS system is a serious demand and concerns the work safety of all workers at IMIP.
Piket Action Coordinator Sandi Laleno emphasized in his speech, SBIPE’s demand for OHS improvement at the company.
“We will not let workers’ lives continue to be sacrificed for the sake of profit. Every day we hear of another work accident: workers’ bodies crushed in factories, lungs damaged by chemicals, bones broken due to neglected safety systems. And what does the company do? Silence. What does the government do? They merely issue empty appeals without enforcing strict oversight! We reject a work system that puts safety as an option, not an obligation!” Sandi Laleno emphasized.
SBIPE’s first picket action ended around 5:30pm WITA.
Original article in Bahasa Indonesia: https://www.dialektikamassa.com/2025/04/marak-kecelakaan-kerja-di-pt-imip-sbipe.html