PITY THE WORKERS [news exclusive from Nepal, Kathmandu] http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-12-27/pity-the-workers.html International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Needs To Do More for Nepali Migrant Workers

1. PITY THE WORKERS [news exclusive from Nepal, Kathmandu]
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-12-27/pity-the-workers.html
Dec 27, 2015- Tek BahadurGurung may no longerbe Nepal’slabourminister,buthe hasleftbehinda
legacywithhis ‘zero-costmigrationpolicy’,perhaps,forthe wrongreasons.All thatministerGurunghad
to do wasconsultwithall the concernedstakeholders—manpoweragencies,trade unionsandforeign
hiringcompaniesamongothers—before makingthe migrationpolicy public,buthe seemedtobe ina
hurry,withjustthree monthsleftinoffice.
As perthe newmigrationpolicy,migrantworkersfromNepalwillnolongerbe requiredtobearthe
stingingcostof airfare and visaprocessingfees,butthere are widerimplications.Itwill,amongother
things,enable countrieslikeBangladeshtoseize Nepal’squotaof employmentopportunitiesinMalaysia
and the Gulf region.Asa result,over30 percentof Nepali workerswill be jobless.The minister,though,
didnot findthis alarming.
KumudKhanal,vice-presidentof the Nepal Associationof ForeignEmploymentAgencies(NAFEA),was
directand precise onthismatter:“WhenTekBahadur got the newsof hisministership,he transferred
the sharesof hismanpowercompaniesinhissonandotherrelatives’name.Soonafter,he enteredinto
a deal withan Americancompany,Flextronics,formanpowersupply.He evenmanagedtoextracta
sweetdeal—freevisaandticketsforhisworkers—anditwasall done underhandthroughone of his
Bangladeshi agents,namedAmin.Itissuspectedthatitwasonlyafterexperiencingthe benefitsof the
zerocost policythathe introducedthe policyinthe country.”He added,“A few monthsback,he
lambastedthe Gulf countriesforpoortreatmentof labourersbecause itservedhisinterests.He hardly
spoke onthe subjectpriorto that because earlierhe wasreapingbenefits.’’

2. http://ngowatchdog.org/pity-the-workers-international-trade-union-confederationituc-needs-to-do-
more-for-nepali-migrant-workers/
Because the issue isrelatedtothe well-beingof the workers,the role of the International Trade Union
Confederation(IUTC) becomesrelevant.Itisa differentmatter,though,thatthe Brussels-based
International Trade UnionConfederationhasmaintaineddeafeningsilence,evenafterthree Nepali
trade unionsare affiliatedtoitandthe Nepali workers,fromwhose pocketsannual contributiongoesto
the global body,suffer.
“The local affiliatespayhuge sumsof moneyeveryyear,butnothingcomesbacktothem.We are
speakingwithlocal unionleaderstodemandmore fromITUCand if theycontinue toshow ignorance,
we will evenlodge aformal complaintwiththe International LabourOrganisation.Makingsympathetic
statementsonthe plightof Nepali workers,fromthousandsof milesawaydoesnothelp.Least
developedcountrieslikeoursshouldnotbe exploited,”said Khanal.
PushkarAcharya,Memberof Parliamentfromthe NepaliCongressandatrade unionveteran,believesit
may notbe completelytrue.Whenpressedonthe specificissueof whetherthe benefitsreachthe
workersat the groundlevel,MPPushkarAcharyadidconcede failure onthe partof ITUC. “I must admit
that the workersare not reapinganybenefitsoutof ourassociationwiththe confederation.”
KhilanathDahal,presidentof the ITUC-affiliate,Nepal Trade UnionCongress,wascautiousinhisopinion
on the Brussels-basedbody:“Theysendsolidaritymessagesfromtime totime,butwe needmore than
that.”
Nepal hasfinallyreceivedaconstitution,anew ladypresident,primeministerandlabourminister.But
the livesof the Nepali migrantworkersremain the same.Will workersgetafreshlease of life?Onlytime
will tell.
AUTHOR: KoiralaisassociatedwithNepali Congress
http://bit.ly/22thXXV