Seputarkarawang.com - Karawang, The issue of social inequality has emerged again in the Karawang industrial area, West Java. According to a report by detikJabar, a number of local unskilled workers involved in the electric battery factory construction project complained about the very different fate compared to foreign workers (TKA) from China who worked at the same project location.One of the local workers with the initials A (35), who had worked as a helper for three months, revealed the bitter reality in the field. Local workers admitted that they did not receive allowances, health insurance such as BPJS, and even had to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) at their own expense."If we were local workers, there were no facilities, no BPJS benefits and other things, I even had to buy a project vest myself. If we work there, local residents are still paid daily, IDR 120 thousand a day," said A as quoted by detikJabar, Wednesday (1/7/2026).
Apart from facility issues, A also highlighted the competence of Chinese foreign workers at the project site. He often found that the results of technical work were less than optimal, so local workers had to carry out repairs. "If the government says that Chinese foreign workers are here to become technicians, I don't see that, even small things like welding ceilings, many of their work is re-done by us because the results are fragile," said A in an interview with detikJabar.Wage inequality is the main point of complaint for workers where there is a significant difference in income; Local workers only receive IDR 120 thousand per day, while foreign workers are said to be able to reach IDR 1 million per day for a similar workload. This condition is exacerbated by frequent delays in payment of weekly wages which makes it difficult for workers due to the lack of access to communication with management who are dominated by foreign workers.Until this news was published, there had been no official statement from project management regarding the issue of wage inequality, worker qualifications, or facilities for local workers in the Karawang industrial area. This media continues to open space for related parties to provide clarification as a form of balanced reporting in accordance with the Journalistic Code of Ethics.
