SAARC delegates for collective bargaining on labour migration

The WSM partners from South Asia have been advocating a joint position on labour migration, also through SARTUC, to get a collective bargaining on labour migration. Some progress is being made, as the Nepali newspaper My Republica reported this today:
With the aim of raising collective issues pertaining to labor migration and forming a common labor law to protect the rights of migrant workers from the region, officials from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have gathered in Kathmandu for the first time.

The government officials of the SAARC-member states and various stakeholders aim to set up a regional-level mechanism in order to assist in dealing with major labor migration issues.
Nepal had formulated a draft for setting up such mechanism after the 18th SAARC Summit that was held in Kathmandu. The member states of the SAARC during the summit had agreed to collaborate and cooperate for proper management of labor migration from South Asia.

New edition of W-Connect: positions, testimonies, practices on Labour Migration

Please click here to find the March 2016 edition of W-Connect, which is a first in two aspects. This newsletter has always had as a goal to share experiences between and from the WSM partners in Asia. 

For the first time, it centers around one topic: labour migration, which was prioritized as an important issue to advocate on by the WSM partners in Asia. This edition gathers political agendas, illustrations of where and when these are advocated for, as well as testimonies and practices.

It is also the first time the editorial oversight was given to two members from the Steering Committee, M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia. This way of working will also be applied for the upcoming 2016 editions of W-Connect, with the next edition dedicated to decent living income and the last to access to health. Please enjoy reading our work and may it inspire and motivate you!

M Ganesh from Nepal and Miss Sulistri from Indonesia

MoU to assist Nepali migrant workers in Qatar

In a bid to protect the rights of Nepali migrant workers in Qatar, which numbers to over 450,000 workers in varied sectors, the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal and the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and activation plan.

National Human Rights Commission Nepal Chair Anup Raj Sharma and National Human Rights Committee Qatar Chair Dr Ali Bin Al Marri signed this agreement to provide mutual assistance for the protection of migrant workers. The Nepalese delegation consisted of Mr Kamal Thapa Chettri and Ms Kalpana Jha as commission officers. Mr Laxman Basnet, SARTUC General Secretary, also accompanied the Nepalese delegation. SARTUC played a crucial role in bringing the two Human Rights Commissions together for facilitating the signing of this MoU. Solidarity Centre provided assistance for this accomplishment. Mr Laxman Basnet hailed the signing of MOU as a great step towards protecting Nepali migrant workers’ rights, and also stressed that such agreements shall be facilitated between NHRC Nepal and other countries of destination for Nepali migrant workers.

During the Qatar visit, SARTUC organised meetings and held discussions with Qatar-based Nepali organizations and groups regarding their conditions. The NHRC Nepal team and SARTUC General Secretary visited labour camps and the Nepalese Embassy in Qatar.

Labour migration and informal economy on SAARC agenda....

Currently, an exciting opportunity has come up on the South Asia level to tackle labour migration and the informal economy. Since the SAARC Declaration of November 2014, South Asian leaders had agreed to come up with policy papers on certain issues: labour migration (which would be developed by Nepal), minimum wage (Bangladesh), social security (Pakistan) etc. For more on SAARC and its relevance, see this post.

To influence this process, SARTUC organized a conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka 28-29 September 2015 with delegates from the trade unions from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and India. ITUC-AP, some TUSSOs (trade unions support and solidarity Organisation, like the Danish LO/FTF or WSM and Global Union Federations, like UNI, as well as Migrant Forum Asia (MFA) also attended and provided input.

The meeting led to a couple of important documents to be used for advocacy: recommendations on labour migration and informal economy, draft minimum standards for bilateral agreements for labour migration to Gulf Countries and a draft standard contract which all SAARC countries could start using and which would provide better workers’ protection.

Since the WSM partners from SAARC also had a position paper regarding labour migration, WSM and its partners which were present convinced the other participants of three key issues to be included:

• Reference to minimum wages in accordance to ILO Convention art. 3 on Minimum Wages, though the proposal of a common minimum amount of 500USD per month was not kept;
• Ensuring access to social protection by hosting countries, the request for Welfare funds in sending countries was not retained however;
• To avoid abuses by recruitment agencies: “All costs linked to recruitment and travel should be employer based and made transparent and publicly available”

All affiliates will now lobby for these agendas in their respective countries, since SAARC doesn’t interact directly with civil society but only functions as a multilateral institution. For one of the first times however, SARTUC itself will also be attending the meeting of the focal points beginning of December in Pokhara, Nepal.  Let’s hope some of these recommendations make it through…

Nepali trade unions support the Prime Minister fund after the earthquake

SARTUC handed over one million rupees to the Prime Minister Natural Disaster Relief Fund meant for the victims affected by devastating earthquake of April 25.

SARTUC General Secretary, Laxman Basnet, handed the check of 1,016,552.50 Nepali Rupees to the Honorable Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at latter’s official residence in Baluwatar. At the event, SARTUC affiliate Presidents of Nepal Chapter and other trade union leaders were present as well.

Mr. Basnet emphasized the role of the government’s mechanism to reach the needy and also highlighted the role that the workers would play in the re-building of nation. He also stated that the workers within and outside the country would be able to directly facilitate the reconstruction process if there was a mechanism, like social security, where workers’ funds would guarantee a steady flow of fund.

Prime Minister Koirala, in response, acknowledged and expressed gratitude for the contribution made by the workers, and he also made commitment to expedite process for ensuring social security of workers.