Kathmandu. Alleging that the government is attempting to curtail trade union rights, the Nepal Trade Union Congress drew the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday.
A delegation from the Trade Union Congress held a meeting with the Commission’s Chairperson, Top Bahadur Magar, to draw his attention to various decisions made by the current government without prior dialogue.
During the meeting, they briefed the Chairperson on how recent government decisions are aimed at shrinking trade union rights. These decisions include the abolition of the trade union in the civil service sector, the removal of workers’ representatives from the government-led tripartite committee of labor stakeholders, and the transfer of the Social Security Fund (to which workers contribute) from the Ministry of Youth, Labor, and Employment to the Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities, and Social Security.
The team, led by Union President Yogendra Kunwar, submitted a memorandum and held discussions with the Commission regarding the government’s actions.
Union President Kunwar stated that the memorandum was submitted to draw the Commission’s attention to the government’s attempts to suppress Nepal’s labor movement. He argued that the government abruptly, and without dialogue, abolished the civil service union, thereby infringing upon constitutional and prevailing legal rights and restricting union activities.
Furthermore, he requested Commission Chairperson Magar to facilitate discussions among all stakeholders regarding this issue.
Reading out the memorandum, the Union’s General Secretary, Ajay Kumar Rai, shared that NHRC Chairperson Magar gave his assurance to look into the matter. Magar acknowledged that trade union rights fall under the umbrella of human rights and promised to take the issue seriously, hold discussions, and reach a conclusion.
General Secretary Rai further stated that it is unjustifiable for the government to violate various international labor standards and fail to even engage in dialogue.
Also present on the occasion were Nepal Trade Union Congress Senior Vice President Tejendra Jung Karki, Women Vice President Radhika Kuinkel, Central Member and Secretary of the Trade Union and Human Rights Department KP Aryal, and Central Member Sudip Budhathoki.
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