Kathmandu (The Kathmandu Post/ANN) - Industrialists may be complaining about them, but the number of trade unions in Nepal has kept on increasing. A total of 86 new trade unions were added in the last six years, that is, after People's Movement II.
As of now, there are 286 trade unions registered at the Department of Labour (DoL), up from 200 in fiscal 2005-06.
In the first half of the current fiscal year, six new trade unions were registered at the department. They are the Press Workers Association (PWA), National Democratic Handicraft Workers Association (NDHWA), Rastra Sewak Karmachari Sangathan and Sarkari Asthahi Karar Jyaladari Workers Association.
During the period, one more trade union federation has been registered at the department. The new federation is the National Democratic Party Trade Union Federation, Nepal (NDPTUFN) affiliated to Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) which was registered about three months ago.
Binod Adhikary, head of the Trade Union Department at the department, said that out of the total 286 registered trade unions, 135 were affiliated to 10 trade union federations while the rest were working independently. Most of these trade union federations are affiliated with the major political parties.
According to the DoL, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist)'s General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) is the largest trade union federation in the country with 29 trade union associations under its affiliation. Similarly, the Maoists' All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) has 14 and the Nepali Congress' Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) has 10 trade union associations under their affiliation.
The business community may be complaining about the rise in the number of trade unions, but trade union leaders said it was natural to see more workers associations given the spreading of trade unions in various sectors of the economy.
Pashupati Murarka, chairman of the Employers' Council at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that with the growing number of trade union associations and federations, the industrial sector has become the victim as such unions are mainly busy in their own ego tussles.
"The recent labour unrest took a long time be resolved due to the different voices from different trade unions," said Murarka. He added that many factions within a trade union federation has also been a major problem in making any sort of negotiation with workers.
GEFONT secretary Ramesh Badal said there was nothing to worry about the rise in the number of trade unions as they are segregated in several sectors including construction, hotel and manufacturing, among others.
"On top of that, the politically oriented trade unions in the county have been deviating from professional practices and eventually hampering industrial operations," said Murarka, adding that the primary focus of trade unions is the welfare of the worker community.
Man Bahadur BK, director general at the DoL, said that the number of trade unions had not soared at this pace in the past. "With more unions, workers may have got strength to raise their voices, but the country's industrial sector has taken a beating as trade unions have been indulging in unreasonable demands," said BK. According to him, the rationale behind the surge in numbers is increasing awareness among workers about their rights.
BK said that apart from the organised sector, there has been a growth in the formation of trade union associations in the unorganized and self-employment sectors like agriculture, painting, hair dressing and driving, among others.
As per the Trade Union Act 1999, at least 50 Enterprise Level's Trade Unions may constitute a Trade Union Association by mutual agreement. While the same act defines, "At least 10 Trade Union Associations may constitute a Trade Union Federation by mutual agreement."
COPYRIGHT: ASIA NEWS NETWORK
There are no comments yet