FUTURE OF NEPALI TRADE UNION MOVEMENT

December 6th, 2009

The  Fourth National Congress of GEFONT has just been concluded in grandure on May 1-3, 2004. Attended by  400 plus elected delegates and around 2 and half dozens international delegates, the Congress was inaugurated by Com. Madhav Kumar Nepal- the General Secretary of CPN (UML) amidst a grand participation of working class.

The Congress has reelected Com. Mukunda Neupane & Lalit Basnet as Chairperson & Vice-chairperson respectively; whereas outgoing Secretary General & Treasurer Com. Bishnu Rimal & Binod Shrestha has been given new responsibility of Vice-chairperson & Secretary General respectively. The new Dy Secretary Generals are Com. Umesh Upadhyaya, Binda Pandey & Hari Datt Joshi. Three coordinators of region Com. Om Koirala, Uddhav K.C and Chudamani Jungali and Coordinator for Central Women Workers Department  (CWWD) Bina Shrestha have reelected in the position which is equivalent to that of Dy Secretary Generals. With seven departmental secretaries, the Congress elected 41 membered NEC with 15% women in the leadership. Com. Kabindra Sekhar has been re-appointed as principle secretary to the Central office.

The Congress has adopted Secretariat report and made amendment in its statute accordingly, summary of the report is as following:

On political situation: Three important political events have occured, which have drawn Nepali politics into the crossroads of new crisis and possibility.

• Maoist terror has  expanded quantitatively in general and qualitatively in terms of military might. It has stroke in the power equilibriam maintained by the 1990 People’s Movement.
• The royal massacre of June 1, 2001 has unexpectedly shaken the 235-year old base of traditional monarchy.
• The retrograsive royal move of October 4, 2002 has derailed the democratic system operating in Nepal for the last 12 years and pushed Nepali politics a step backward.    

Possible way out of the current crisis: There are divergent opinions vis-a-vis this question. On the basis of the opinions expressed by the forces in power, the parties in the political mainstream and the rebels, the following common points can be sorted out.

• The nation cannot afford to maintain the status quo any longer. The change in political structure is a must.
• The achievement of the 1990 People’s Movement should provide the basis for bringing about any changes in the political structure.
• The process and the programmes of the consolidation of democracy and the solution to socio-economic contradictions should be mutually inclusive and inter-dependent.
• In the context of progressive and forward-looking outlet to current crisis, it is a must that a ‘package’ of basic understanding is developed on fundamental issues by the rebels, the government and the mainstream political parties through which to address the procedural differences dividing them.

• Measures should be in place to ensure that people are completely sovereign.

On International Trade Unionism: We favour the policy that implements in actions the global sentiment of “workers of the world, unite.” For this to materialize the best policy is to seek ‘unity in diversity.’  Based on this policy, we should stand for the creation of “single international trade union centre” in which all national centres can fit in. In a continental level, there should be ” single regional trade union organisation” and, in the sub-regional level, ” single sub-regional organisation.”

On class & changing structure of contemporary Nepal:  The contradiction of the contemporary Nepali society can be summarised as following:

1. Society is in the process of new polarisation; middles class has increased and it has full control over the people above the poverty line.
2. The middle class is a Class mostly flexible, dissatisfied and full of prejudices. It does not take risk of losing the present status for the unseen benefit that may result from over all change. In this sense middle class may be considered statusquoist.
3. But the student force that stems from the middle class has a dominant say, as it is a decisive force in the ‘urban movement’. We need to carefully see to what direction our movement should pull this force.
4. Nearly half of the total population are below the poverty line. The mainstream political forces and mass organizations do not have a strong influence over this poorest segment of people. Therefore the solution to the problems facing the poor lies in the structural change. But the numerically increasing middle class and the upper class as the customary power is maintaining its say over the state is not prepared for structural change. Without structural change, the contradiction of Nepali society will not solve.
5. Poverty is rural based, where the rebel group has a strong presence. In the 12 years of democratic polity, there have been urban focused efforts for structural improvements; where Peoples’ organizations are active, but it does not address the ‘biggest problem’ of poverty.
6. Contradictions of the contemporary Nepali society are not solely based on class structure. Caste and ethnicity, gender and regional sentiments are also crucial to create conflict and problem in the social structure. In the caste context, the problems of dalits and untouchability hold prominence. In the context the regional sentiments the problem between developed and underdeveloped parts of the country (viz. western & eastern hills; Inner Terai and the hills) and in the context of gender, discrimination between male and female are important issues. Addressing these issues will help address some complexities created by class contradictions too.

On GEFONT launched workers struggle: During this period, a ‘300’000 card signature campaign’ was started to protest against the Essential Services Act-1957, which was forcefully imposed on over dozen sectors. The 10-percent service charge movement in the HRC sector was internationally highlighted. The movement of the public enterprises employees became a noted national movement. A number of enterprise level movements, including the one in Biratnagar Jute Mills, have received much attention at the local level. After 1990, the rise in the minimum wage has been the highest this year, and in our tenure, the wages have been reviewed twice, including this one.

On Structural problems and proposal for improvement: The main condition for union dynamism and continuity is to develop capable leadership at various levels. Particularly in central leadership, there is a strong need for second-rank and third-rank leadership to make sure that the movement does not slow down or collapse after certain point of time. Taking into consideration the current situation, following changes have been made in the existing structure.

National Council: To promote the women in the policy-making level, provision to directly nominate women members in the National Council from the member unions has been guaranteed with an ammemdment in the functioning policy to elect five members including at least a women from the affiliates. National Council has been recognised as a powerful ‘legislature’ and be consolidated as a platform to be controlled by the affiliates representing respective workers to exercise rights and to interve in policy decision between two Congresses.  

National Executive Committee: This Committee can, in other words, be considered as “executive” whose day-to-day activities are carried out by the Secretariat. To enhance its effectiveness, and separation of ‘policy & planning work’ with ‘mass mobilisation work’, the existing Planning and Research Commission has been transformed & renamed as Central Planning Commission with responsibilities of policy, research and auditing. This is constituted under the leadership of one of the Vice-Chairmen and is composed with experts (such as economists, sociologists, etc.) as well as technical expert (such as auditors, project coordinators, etc).

In order to strengthen widening functions of the secretariat, a provision for a three Deputy Secretary Generals has been endoresed, who will directly assist the Secretary General in day-to-day affairs. It is also adopted provision of fully responsible secretaries to the Central Departments  to meet the present day’s challenge; which will be coordinated by Deputy Secretary Generals.

Further, the provision of the Deputy Secretary Generals and Secretaries as a process of developing tyres of leadership. To expand this process to the affiliates as well, there is a provision that the person elected as office bearers be automatically relieved from the major posts from the affiliates as well.

Local Structures: A new provision for Coordinating Council at the Regional and District level has been adopted. These councils will act as a ‘legislature’ of the respective regions & districts of GEFONT. The councils will propose yearly programmes for the respective areas and monitor & evaluate the implementation of programmes devised by the National Executive Committee.

As the ‘executive’ the Regional Coordination Committee and Zonal Committee will be active. In order to foster the further participation of women in local level, Regional Women Workers Department (RWWD) as a new structure has been added under CWWD. Its co-ordinator will be the ex-officio member of Regional Co-ordination Committee & NEC.

In the existing Zonal Committee, ex-officio members stand more than two-thirds of elected members as per the statutary provision. This does not match the democratic spirit, nor our goal to build a workers-based union movement.

To address this dilemma, new provision has been adopted; now the Zonal Committee will solely be elected by the local unions. The office bearers of the Zonal Committee will not remain in the affiliates as office bearers of its central committee.

Scenario Forecast of Nepali Unionism: It is not easy to forecast scenario of the union movement given the current political situation, which is so fluid. However, we can imagine three types of scenarios:

Scenario 1: Statusquo Given the current balance of political power, the first scenario seems imminent. And, there runs a risk of intense militarisation by both the left and right-wing extremisim. Politics and people’s power may be pushed towards marginal point and the achievements of the 1990 People’s Movement may be further curtailed. Political parties and people’s organisations may not be banned but they will have very little to engage in political processes. A so-called government may carry out day-to-day administration on the directives of the customary conservative force. The situation can be termed as ‘guided democracy.’ The State will be run by the customary power active in cities, outskirts and urban centres may adopt a policy of controlling over rural and outlying areas through both carrot & stick measure. Thus, a regressive move would prevail in political dispensation.

If this situation is to emerge, GEFONT and national trade union movement would face the following challenges:

• GEFONT will be relatively weak; frustration will enter into union movement
• Policy intervention will be weak. It will be difficult to mobilise the working class people into democratic-political mainstream as all major democratic-political outlets will be tightened.
• Trade union movement will be renegated to a ‘reactive’ engine that would show concern after the occurance of an incident. There will be no prospect for proactive initiatives.

This scenario may also lead to the folling opportunities:

• Working class people of all ideologies may come under an umbrella to restore peace and democracy
• Like in the Panchayati era, union movement may be polarised into pro-regresive and anti-regressive streams. GEFONT could consolidate itself as a common union movement of anti-regressive streams.
• A new identity & image of union movement could be established in Nepali society.

If the experience of South Asia and other newly democratised countries is any guide, guided democracy does not sustain in our geo-political set-up. Lacking political commitment, the security force may not be able to control insurgency and the resultant violence escalated in the rural areas.

Such a situation may give rise to a new kind of transitional phase. There could be a unity temporarily between the mainstream political parties—who truly represent the people’s force—and the ruling traditional force. In such a scenario, a powerful and all-party government could be formed. The movement against regression may reach a new height resulting in a quantitative reform in the status-quo. This would then force the political parties towards qualitative reform. Such a transitional phase may not last long, and will take us to the ‘scenario-2’ situation.

Scenario 2: Progressive Change Conflicts and insurgencies of all kinds will have ultimately been resolved through dialogues and political processes. Drawing insights from this phenomenon, the internal and external political forces will encourage the State and the insurgents to hold dialogues. If this happens, packages of overall change will be forwarded for the peaceful resolution to the problems. The rebels, the customary power-now controlling State power and the political parties which represent the people’s Power will engage in interactions, debates and dialogues as per their political agenda. All this will lead to an environemnt of change; and, to a series of exercises, both hidden and open, aimed to consolidate democracy, make people completely sovereign and the monarchy fully constitutional. A new transformatory condition will also emerge vis-à-vis the mainstreaming of the rebel force and the management of their weaponry. This phase of transformation may relatively be long, and it may prove to be a time of unity and polarisation amongst political forces.

In such a scenario, our movement may have to face the following challenges:

• GEFONT will have to compete with various competitors; even a division may be anticipated amidst traditionally friendly forces
• A new ‘militant’ force may emerge as a competitor. Because of this force, industrial relation may be influenced by  ‘extra-legal means’ rather than by ‘rule of law’.
• Instead of a large and widespread movement, GEFONT may have to be limited to small-scale activities. It may be reduced to a policy of power consolidation through labour disputes.

Under this scenario, there may also emerge a number of opportunities:

• The working class people will generate new hope and encouragement
• The mainstream trade union movment, including GEFONT, will be unified in a wider structure. Within union movement, democratic forces will be active nationwide to counter the expansion of anti-democratic and totalitarian forces.
• GEFONT will be fully committed to social justice and to the concept of the ‘welfare state’ that reinforces its goals. The significance of trade union movement will further expand in the society.
• All social partners will stand for a national consensus for a new economic system and social transformation. Union movement will be established as inevitable and generally-accepted institutions.
• We will have a full support and solidarity from the international union movement.
• Union movement will move forward as a visionary movement of the entire social movement.

The increasing non-political and anti-social activities unleashed by the rebels and the intervention of international power centres into Nepali affairs hint that the possibility of the ‘peaceful resolution of problems’ seems dim. In such a situation, scenario-3 comes into attention.

Scenario 3: Extreme National Crisis- The State may rigidly stick to the ‘military solution to the problem’, and the rebels may continue their strategy of capturing the state through a rebellious war. The power of people may weaken, the intervention of foreign power centres may escalate. The country may plunge into a civil war if foreign intervention and conflict is to contiue. And Nepal may turn to a ‘failed state’; our sovereignty may be in crisis.

In such a scenario, the trade union movemnet may have to face the folloiwng challenges:

• The nature of industrial relations will be changed in the labour market. Extreme anarchy will be a social reality. Working class people will be displaced & pushed into a state of extreme frustration.
• The strength of union will be weak; divisions and conflicts will hit the union movement.
• The issue of nationality will get prominence over the issue of class- rights and social security.
• Social dialogue will completely break down.

This will also create a few opportunities;

• GEFONT will reinforce its traditional ‘revolutionary’ zeal. It will develop itself as a common forum of patriotic, nationalist and democratic forces.
• Union movement will sustain albeit as a defensive movement. It will draw moral solidarity from international union movements.

We should prepare the Nepali trade union movement capable to face any challenges posed by unfolding political reality, and able to capitalise on available opportunities. The theme of the 4^th National Congress—Enhance One Union for Democracy, Peace and Overall change—rightly reflects our vision of the future trade union movement.

Summarised by Bishnu Rimal