Dev Raj Dahal, Head, FES Nepal

The debate on the future of Nepalese trade union movement is mainly concerned with the institutional question of workers' welfare, their competitive role in constitution and decision-making in the new federal democratic republic set up and strengthening their capacity for shared-governance. In Nepal, the workers and their unions had staged a front line struggle in the political transformation of 2006 and helped to establish democracy rooted in popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty means capital is conditional upon the will of people, majority of them belong to working class citizens and reasonable application of freedom of workers in the areas of production, investment, distribution and ownership of resources. The outcome of April 10, 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) election to elect 601-member has circulated this sovereignty in workplace, social, economic and political organizations and power- exercising institutions including the state and political parties. The emergence of CPN (Maoist) as the largest party has opened an opportunity for it to transform its wartime structure and ideology into a mass-based democratic party. It has also offered a chance to other parliamentary parties to reform themselves and integrate national diversity into their party structures and political culture.

The popular verdict favored the necessity of a consensus in politics as no single party has either absolute or two-thirds majority to form the government. The CA election, political parties and trade unions have provided the workers institutional means to participate in the legislative power of the state and moved politics from its traditional domain of adjudicating competing claims for positions to structural transformation. The CA has offered an opportunity for the negotiation of a new social contract, social inclusion and negotiated peace articulated through Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) singed in November 2006 aiming to manage conflict through cultural, social, economic and political transformations. A sustainable peace in Nepal requires rational resolution of deadlocks for power-sharing, engagement of non-state armed actors, management of conflict residues, integration of Maoist combatants in productive civilian life and peace building measures.

Similarly, democratization involves-expansion of civic and human rights of citizens, their participation and ownership in constitution-making, resolution of undefined nature of federalism, bottom-up leadership development, respect to the opposition, ideological orientation of political parties towards democracy, protection of property rights, winners not dictating the rules of game and application of sustainable development policies. A constitutional state rooted in democracy liberates political power from the personalized rule of leaders and their hereditary privilege in public sphere. It establishes the rule of law. Fostering democracy requires making the infrastructures of democracy, such as political parties, trade unions and civil society inclusive of gender, social and inter-generational justice. The institutionalization of political power under the rule of law is a key to democratic innovation. But, democratic consolidation of transitional state obviously requires a framework of social justice to improve the wages and social standards of majority of workers. What are the expectations of workers from their unions?

Union as a Rule Maker Rather than only Rule Taker

The CA has expanded the social base of Nepalese politics as more ethnic groups, women, Dalits, indigenous communities, Madhesis and workers are included in it but it has yet to improve their relative position through the development of welfare state capable of coordinating market economy and increasing massive social investment for workers' well-being. Sound macroeconomic foundation based on production revolution is a precondition to sustain enlarged social dimension. Since institution-building and constitutional negotiations occur in numerous stages, trade unions have an opportunity to participate many times in the rule-making process.

But, the Nepalese unions have to get important concepts and space for participation and make them relevant and effective in evolving a class-neutral state. These concepts are legitimate social contract, social security, workers dignity, right to work, creation of better jobs, minimum wage, freedom of expression and organization, free collective bargaining, codetermination of public policies, implementation of ILO Core Labor Standards and existing labor laws, etc. Only a mediated social contract can stand above dominant interest groups of society and create level playing field for workers' participation in economic democracy. If the power of workers is constructively used for the equal social integration their other identities, such as age, caste, class, gender, ethnicity, religion and region can be subsumed into the national identity of citizen as well as human being. Democracy-building can be enhanced by civic spirits where equal citizen become a mediating link between the state and society and between constitutional and human rights.

Union as an Actor rather than a Factor in Social Transformation

The Nepalese political economy built on caste, feudal hierarchy and patriarchy has entered into a phase of structural crisis induced by the transformation of context, actors, rules, issues and discourse. This transformation has provided the dispossessed new opportunities, networks and information for struggle against the domestic political economy enmeshed in the neo-liberal globalization and augmented their access to political power. Still, travel to global village requires money, knowledge and visa which only a few can afford. There is no restructuring of global property relationship for social projects, such as equality, participation and social justice. Instead, the financialization of international system is built on economic concentration on MNCs, banks and financial centers and aid to developing countries is conditionalized on opening their economy to global capital markets, suppress the wage of their workers, convert permanent jobs into contract and exploit national tax advantage.

In this context, unionization at home and abroad and pro-active engagement of unions in economic creation is central to increase workers collective political power for relatively egalitarian national and world-system. State restructuring, autonomy and self-determination have occupied national the attention of discourse. Similarly, market competitiveness of workers and knowledge about global market conditions are very important for the trade union to manage the question of migration of workers. Democracy-building requires inclusive social transformation and mutual adjustment of both the capital and the labor for the promotion of common good.

Social transformation as a systemic process leads to a dynamic equilibrium of society where the power of workers to self-organize is brought to the level of political and capital power. In this sense, social transformation is a process of wide-ranging change in the thinking, nature, structure, institution, rules, technology and cultural patterns of society through human agencies and actions. It aims to replace the crisis-prone and dysfunctional system by new values, processes and division of labor in search of a new but more humanized democratic equilibrium.

Union as a Catalyst in the Democratization of Social, Economic and Political Power

In the first phase of democratization in the 1950s, democracy movements of parties, trade unions and civil society groups in Nepal were coordinated. During this period political parties framed the agenda, put negotiable demands to the state, mobilized unions, party cadres and civil society along professional and class lines, removed the conventional division of politics into the right and the left and built solidarity for collective action. Fear of curtailing their constitutional and universal human rights and the prospect of a better future shaped their collective behavior. It established a constitutional democracy in the country. But, the tendency of political leadership to subordinate workers or use them as party client has left them dissatisfied often ready to fight for their rights and rightful place in society. Diverse ideological orientations have barred their collective action. From 1960 to 1990 unions were legally suspended but they helped the struggle of political parties for democracy in a clandestine way.

In the second phase of democratization of 1990s, while political leadership had mainly set their interest in the democratization of politics unions were interested in the democratization of politics, economy, society and international relations. They preferred workers proportional representation in political power. During this period, the legalization of unions and cooperation among various unions had increased. Party movement often ended in the transition to a new power equation while workers' movement aspired for greater restructuring of capital and greater share in social transformation. It is, therefore, essential to look workers movement as a voice for equitable progress and innovation. The tendency of political parties to treat trade unions as subordinate actors has weakened their role and image in the second phase. The representation of workers in the decision-making was pathetic. This is the reason the process of establishing economic democracy remained weak.

In the third phase of democratization that began with April 2006 inter-movement solidarity of unions and civil society eloquently presented the transformative potential as they defined alternative vision, goals, issues and strategies and attempted to create open space for horizontal networks of organizations to organize joint activities against authoritarian regime. Trade unions and civil society revitalized the life of political parties but pushed them for more democratization and more egalitarianism. In this phase, trade unions are struggling for autonomy from party politics while linking themselves to civil society actors for collective action. The international solidarity of unions has also increased through social forums and social movements. This trend in the union politics do emphasize on democracy, autonomy, inclusion, workers control, participation and empowerment.

The sustained union movement will likely to democratize internal party politics and the state if the social energy they unleashed does not die down due to their division, fragmentation and resubordination. Likewise, it will also help to democratize union structures and give women, youth and informal sector workers legitimate voice, visibility and representation over the actions of leadership. That the vision of cooperation among unions is transcending its partisan character is a salutary effort. To beef up its strength in the democratization, the unions have first to be inclusive, flexible in seeking cooperation among themselves, prevent the tendency of fragmentation of leadership, deepen links with grassroots and informal sectors and muster resources for increasing their competitiveness against other actors of society.

Union Agenda in New Nepal

Trade unions can achieve social justice if their solidarity and collective action help transform unjust power and property relations and establish them as equal partner in social and political dialogues, policy making and constitutional drafting. In a conflict prone society like Nepal social justice and peace building are intrinsic parts of democratic participation. Because they have the potentialities to glue cultural and economic diversity, prevent social polarization and foster ecologically and socially sustainable development. The key priorities will be:

Making Human Rights and Workers Rights as Non-Negotiable Demand: Nepal has endorsed Universal Declaration of Human Rights: civil and political rights and social, economic and cultural rights. It has accepted the social charter of SAARC. The Interim Constitution 2007 promises several rights that are fundamental to the workers, such as freedom, equality, non-discrimination, publication, environment, health, education, culture, social security, property, employment, social justice, etc. These values and principles provide justification for social democracy in Nepal. The task of unions lies in making these rights actionable and justiceable, enabling the state to link these rights to public policy, allocating resources to help workers satisfy their basic freedoms and needs and giving the workers a hope that New Nepal means a better life, liberty and dignity for the workers and their children.

Strengthening the Role of Unions in Technical Committees of CA: The active role of Nepalese unions in articulating the egalitarian demands and social priorities of the workers in the technical committees of the CA and various consultative mechanisms can enable the access of workers on constitutional issues. To become effective, workers have to increase the membership need of the unions with their greater role in shaping their social and political vision for the new constitution. But, meanwhile, unions have also to work in defining space for long-term public policy mediation. There is a possibility for creating economic democracy in the country if the capital and the labor work together for post-conflict reconstruction and peace building.

Supporting the Institutional Pillars of Peace for Democracy Stabilization: Many institutional structure of peace has yet to be set up. The trade unions have to exert pressure for setting up pillars of peace, such as the establishment of High Level Peace Commission, Local Peace Committees (LPCs), a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Commission on Enforced Disappearances (CED), Peace and Rehabilitation Commission (PRC) and State Restructuring Commission (SRC) Commission on the Recommendation of Scientific Land Reforms and Commission on Diasppeared Persons. The works of the Nepal Peace Trust Fund in the reintegration of ex-combatants, rehabilitation of conflict displaced people, law and order and peace process must be scaled up and a critical mass should be mobilized to impact on the drivers of the conflict and recover the domain of popular sovereignty. If the class power of the trade unions and business community is not transformed into civic power a common identification with the nation remains weak. Diverse national affiliates of unions and chambers cannot coexist easily for a lengthy period within the same nation if there is no common process of political socialization based on nationality and common vision of a shared future.

Combating Grinding Poverty: Combating poverty requires an integrated plan of action whereby workers can participate to define their future with greater hope and promise. The global social movements propelled by Social Forums, social evolution of Europe and the adoption of social charter in various parts of the world including South Asia have generated a hope that there is an alternative to neo-liberal model. Inter and intra-union communication helps in the evolution of general consciousness about society and transcends class politics based on commoditification of essential public goods. Nepalese unions have to be involved in the co-production of essential public good along with the state, private sector, workers cooperatives, etc based on the principles of subsidiarity.To overcome poverty international, national and local efforts should be coordinated.

But in the tension between real economy and "symbolic economy", Nepalese trade unions have a number of roles to play to minimize its negative effects, such as increasing inequality, labor-market flexibility, lowering of the minimum wages owing to trade liberalization and weakening of social protection. Unions' aim to realize these roles requires them to engage in a joint democratic struggle to participate in the shaping of public policies. Only then their common demand orientation can make a single union a realist option. But, unless grassroots globalism triggered by unions offsets the globalization from outside and above it would be very difficult for them to shape economic policies politically.

Social communication among workers in diverse sectors is, therefore, essential to increase professional consciousness and erode sectarian loyalties. Without proper economic base the material condition of transformation cannot be improved. Building rural infrastructure and income and job-generating projects, rehabilitation and demobilization of conflict-affected communities and reconstruction of destroyed public assets and infrastructure and basic social services - education, health, sanitation, water supply and relief - are identified as the key areas for public investment. Democracy-building requires the primacy of the national loyalties of workers over other considerations.

Extending Collective Bargaining Coverage: If Nepalese workers and unions think and act politically and involve in massive organization of unorganized and informal sector workers they will have more democratic space within the nation-state to realize their rights. Inaction, by implication, will put them out of voice, visibility and representation in public policy and characterize them as mere recipient of some welfare benefits. GUFs, ILO and Nepalese trade unions are seeking to organize agricultural and informal sectors through a sense of social justice and fairness through establishing minimum wages, abolition of bonded and child labor, social security, collective bargaining and co-determination. Good wages, land reforms for the benefits of landless workers, effective implementation of the existing Labor Acts, development of social security system, training, productivity increase, income generating activities, foreign employment, gender equality, etc embody legitimate aspirations of workers.

Increasing the Density of Unions to Democratize Economic Power: Why political transformation which gave poor majority the power to decide through ballot papers could not bring desirable economic and social transformation? Obviously, there was no single voice and converging interests of unions and economic domain remains isolated from ecological, social and political accountability. The free-running neo-liberal commerce silently supported by politicians also conspired to treat helpless workers as mere commodities. As a result, political policies did not help much to improve the life of workers. The strategies in poverty reduction through Millennium Development Goals, ILO's programs, official development strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategic Paper (PRSP) and Declaration of World Social Forum have not moved beyond rhetoric to make a substantive dent on underlying causes of poverty-induced conflicts. Unions are enlisted in the debate about these programs when they are ready for implementation rather than giving the unions requisite opportunity to jointly reshape the vision, goals and strategies. The lesions of social learning of workers are hardly applied in the program designs. In a post-conflict Nepal new responsibilities of unions include rural reconstruction, effective public service delivery and rapid development impacts through decentralization, empowerment of the local communities and larger reproduction of the learning from the successful community-based approaches to recovery of the societies from the war wounds.

Strategies for Effective Movement Building

The emancipatory spirit of union movement now based on universal political idioms--freedom, social justice, solidarity and peace bears the unambiguous behavior of their socialist ancestors. The only question lies in defining the legitimate means and strategies so that conditions of modernity, such as education, economy, technology, organization and leadership support the agenda of equal social transformation.

a) Social transformation integrates all legitimate interests of society including workers: The Nepalese formal labor market is highly skewed. More than 90 percent of the nation's workforce is employed in informal, unorganized and agriculture sector where the concept of social security is fundamentally amiss. The traditional concept of union cannot represent the unemployed, poor and even mobile migrant workers. At a time when employment conditions are deteriorating due to cut in subsidy and corresponding decline in production unions have to open themselves to new social groups and sectors. Formalization of informal workforce into a framework of rule of law is important for economic revival. One way of formalization is providing property rights to workers, other rectifying structural injustice and still other is initiating substantive policy reforms. Social harmony and peace is related to economic growth, political stability and periodic social mobility of workers through elections, education and job participation. A coherent nation-building requires interest representation of all sectors of society in decision-making structures and mediation of their conflict interests.

b) Bottom-up pressure for the negotiation of workers issues in the constitution: The CA has made Nepalese politics an open-ended exercise. It has also provided the trade unions an opportunity to articulate their visions. A democratic social contract requires the interest mediation between the capital and the labor. It is a step by step process, in which political understanding is built first among the enterprise level workers, then national and then regional level unions and democracy is harnessed as a source of production and distribution of societal resources. Mediation of social contract is central to build constitutional state and give the workers an ownership in the post-conflict nation-building. Unions can also open themselves with other unions and civil society forces where they can expand their constituency and protect their interest for democracy against exclusive corporate, technocratic and bureaucratic interests. Social contract devoid of workers' participation in national, regional and global policy making is simply unsustainable.

b) Consolidation of solidarity at multi-level unions: Trust building among the various unions as well as civil society groups is a must for their effective collective action, prevent corporate abuses of workers' core rights and strengthen unions' collective bargaining power for decent wages and working conditions at various levels--local, national, regional and global-- defined by International Labor Organization (ILO) and GUFs. In a situation of high political dynamics, formulation of a common legislative agenda on workers rights, needs and concerns will be important to overcome the differences of partisan interests and fight collectively for workers rights, such as working conditions, affordable health care, education and upgrading of labor-intensive and environment-sensitive technology. This means employment of the workers should be the key to any economic and development policy.

c) Creation of Institutions to support political and policy dialogue: Policy making is a rational process of setting governance goals and application of knowledge, tools, resources, institutions and power to shape human progress. The waves of new policy changes have put the freedom of capital above the social interests of workers, weakened the constitutional system and the social security thus putting the workers in a disadvantageous position. New policy changes have resulted in a greater insecurity, wealth inequality, stagnating wages and poverty and migration of workers abroad for job and livelihoods. To reshape the major economic policy to be undertaken by the state and political parties unions have to pro-actively engage themselves continuously into policy and political dialogues taking into account the consequences. Unions have to increase their bargaining power in negotiations and shore up their capacity in research, knowledge-building and skill enhancement on social, economic and political policy matters. Partnership with the labor friendly think-tanks and individual social researchers, publication and dissemination of knowledge are central tasks to shape policy outcomes. This is important for the formulation of equity-based redressal mechanism and the transformation of feudal and patriarchal political culture towards more rationalistic and humanitarian ones.

d) Collective response to globalized pyramid of economic power: Nepal has labor surplus but capital deficit. Globalization of Nepalese workers has provided some economic benefits for Nepal. But, it is a challenge if measured by social costs. Due to historically induced problem of capital flight, investment of capital in non-productive sectors, de-industrialization and domination of national policy by global regimes the costs outweighs the benefits. Decline in agro-production due to cut in subsidy and the policy of de-industrialization broke the linkage between the rural and urban areas. Non-investment of economic surplus in productive activities is the cause of misery of Nepalese workers and sustained development failures to cope poverty and powerlessness. A progressive response to globalization requires modernizing informal sector economy, mainstreaming youth and women in the union network and utilizing rural surpluses and money for productive investment. The unions have to exert pressure for a paradigm shift from the existing revenue-based to production based economy as tax contributes only 12 percent to GDP. Job security ensures human dignity and the dignity of labor. Similarly, unions have also to play role in the protection of workers both at home and abroad whose income and remittances are giving life to rural economy and fostering partnership between the rich and the poor. A collective response to globalization requires developing a message that economy should serve the workers.

e) Workers legitimate rights to market access and ownership of capital: A national social contract cannot be sustained in a globalized marketplace as global rules are governed by the code of power, money, knowledge and technology than human compassion or the global development contract. Democratizing communication and information is central to the representation of workers in decisions. Nepal is major beneficiary of remittance economy as it contributed 23 percent to GDP. Opening of global market has provided Nepalese workers to participate in this opportunity. Markets do not make rules, build solidarity of workers and enlist the voluntary participation of workers in economic democracy. All these processes require the application of democratic principles-equal access and active expression. In the context of the increasing regionalization (SAFTA) and globalization (WTO) of economy and technology, globalization of human rights, democracy, social contract, social justice and collective bargaining is essential. The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO which dominate the policies of the developing countries do not follow either humanitarian or democratic principles. Unions are struggling to achieve ILO's core labor standards aiming to empower the workers and give them the right to free collective bargaining and dignity to work. The essence of bargaining is demanding higher wages, better labor relations and investment in productive activities so that competitiveness of workforce is created. Linking workers rights to market access requires the mainstreaming of gender, Dalits, workers and youths for social and inter-generational justice for an inclusive transformation.

Conclusion

To become efficient, unions must be very cohesive, democratic, inclusive and participatory. Education, training, dialogue, organization and unity are key components for building strong unions and prevent themselves from being losers of economic game. Workers' right to development requires a stress on politically coordinated economic policy where rules of the national economic and financial game will be regulated by democratic control so that losers are compensated by the winners. In Nepal, market institutions are dominated by powerful elites who oppose social justice and equal adjustment of the interests of the capital and labor in nation-building. Putting democratic constraints on them and making them understand the value of social justice require first promulgation of rational laws and establishment of effective machinery to set democratic ceiling on their excessive passion for wealth and power exonerated from constitutional control. The logic of social transformation requires the role of workers in sound labor-management relationship, upgrading of skill level of workforce to participate in the new economy and capacity building of unions to enforce at least dignified wages for the workers.

GEFONT Trade Union Education Meeting, Kathmandu, June 29, 2008