Trade unions at work in Nepal during 2020

 WSM trade union partners continued their focus on the contributory social security fund and trying to ensure informal workers are covered. They joined a task force established by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security to address the pandemic’s impact on the labour market. All three trade unions also established disaster management committees during the lockdown to monitor the impact of the pandemic among their members, and offer assistance where possible. GEFONT’s rapid assessment study found 42% of enterprises did not pay out any form of remuneration from March 16 to April 15, contrary to the commitment made by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Trade union support helped to survive lockdown

Hari, a taxi driver in Kathmandu: “I hardly made €10 or 1,500NPR a month with which I had to manage for my family of four to live. Due to the never-ending lockdown, the owner of my taxi couldn’t give me my salary. Life went from how to live on my salary to how to survive without it. I felt devastated. The first month we managed with some savings, but from the second month onwards, we had no money, no food to eat. As my son has tuberculosis, all our money went to his medication. Then, my mother got glaucoma and went blind…My trade union, NTUC, provided us with enough food to survive and also some medical facilities to my son. If they hadn’t helped us in this time of need, my entire family would have starved to death.”