The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) organized a workshop in Kathmandu on November 12 to discuss the concept paper prepared by GEFONT on occupational safety and health.

GEFONT President Binod Shrestha said that occupational safety and health are the natural rights of workers and that this issue is not a matter of debate.

President Shrestha said that since occupational safety and health are important issues for workers, GEFONT has formed a separate department to handle its work, and GEFONT is also working on a separate policy on occupational safety and health.

In the workshop, Vice President Bidur Karki said that no matter how well occupational safety and health expert Yuvraj Bhatta presents the law or concept paper, the regulatory and managerial role would be important to make occupational safety and health worker-friendly.

He said that GEFONT has been doing work to make workers aware of occupational safety and health and said that this should be continued to make it effective.

In the workshop, GEFONT Vice President Jitendra Shrestha, Kamal Gautam, Janak Chaudhary and Sita Lama, General Secretary Laxman Sharma, Vice General Secretary Naranath Luintel, Secretary Belimaiya Dhale, Krishna KC, and Taranidhi Pant gave their opinion on the concept paper.

Similarly, GEFONT Gandaki Province President Rudra Khatri, Tea-Coffee Workers’ Union of Nepal President Sant Kumar Rai, and legal expert Bhakti Ghimire gave suggestions regarding the concept paper.
 

Central Union of Painters, Plumbers, Electro and Construction Workers-Nepal (CUPPEC) Central Committee, affiliated to the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), has organized a Lead exposure examination of painters and electricians working in the painting profession at the GEFONT School in Anamnagar, Kathmandu on November 12.

In a program chaired by CUPPEC Nepal Central President Shanta Basnet, Dr. Bibek Pant of Samyak Diagnostic informed that long-time workers in the painting and electrical professions get diagnosed with silent diseases like sugar and pressure which this has a major impact on the nervous system, so Lead exposure test is necessary for this as it can be prevented if treated in time.

23 workers were tested in the Lead testing program conducted by CUPPEC Central General Secretary Rajendra Basnet.
 

The South Korean Migrant Workers Union (MTU) has been expressing its opposition to the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security’s preparations to send workers to Korea under the E7 visa system through a manpower company.

Migrant Workers Union (MTU) President Udaya Rai has also demanded the implementation of a Work Permit System (WPS) that allows Nepali workers to change their workplace at will, saying that when workers are sent through a manpower company, they have to pay a lot of money to agents, and that the selection process is not transparent and they can be scammed.
 

General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) Support Group Nepali Migrant Worker Union Qatar has formed an area committee on November 8 at Barwa Al Baraha.

A 16 member area committee was formed under the presidency of Ghanashyam Rijal in the program where Nepali Migrant Workers Union GEFONT Support Group Qatar’s president Samundra Khadka was the chief guest.

In the program initiated by GEFONT Support Group Qatar’s Secretary Giri Prasad Darlami, chief guest Samundra Khadka shed light on GEFONT’s policies and programs.

Likewise, union’s Vice President Nawaraj Shahi congratulated the newly formed committee. The program was organized by the union’s officials General Secretary Lokbahadur Yogi and the attendees were welcomed by Financial Secretary Salbahadur Shrestha.
 

The GEFONT family is shocked by the untimely demise of Comrade Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, a member of the Jute, Textile, Garment and Carpet Workers’ Union Nepal (JTG-CWUN), an affiliate of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) and a former member of the CPN-UML Workers Special District Committee, on November 7.

In this sad time, GEFONT has expressed its heartfelt tribute to late Shrestha and expressed its condolences to the bereaved family.

A brief tribute meeting was organized at Pashupati on November 11 before the cremation of the late Shrestha.

At the tribute meeting, CPN-UML Politburo member and GEFONT President Binod Shrestha draped the party flag.

Similarly, GEFONT Vice President Jitendra Shrestha and Sita Lama paid tribute by hoisting the GEFONT flag and JTG-CWUN President Arjun Adhikari paid tribute by hoisting the union flag.

Late Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, a resident of Ward No. 3 of Sailung Rural Municipality, Dolakha District, had been living in Kathmandu since 1989 for employment.

Late Shrestha passed away untimely on the way back from the Muktinath pilgrimage with his family on November 7.
 

The global effort to combat the climate crisis will not change unless there is a judicial transformation agenda and meaningful representation and dialogue of workers, said Laxman Sharma, General Secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT).

General Secretary Sharma made this statement at the national discussion program of civil society and consultants on the Climate Conference 2024 in Kathmandu on November 6.

General Secretary Sharma said that the issues of climate change and judicial transformation have been left out of the discussions held by civil societies, emphasizing the need to pay attention to green employment and social security.

Clarifying the strategies to be adopted to obtain the climate finance that Nepal should receive in a fair manner and to distribute it fairly, General Secretary Sharma said that there will be no climate justice without decent labor and green employment, social justice in the labor market, and judicial transformation.

During the program, GEFONT Vice President Sita Lama and National Committee Member Suman Parajuli raised issues including the impact of climate change on workers’ employment and the participation of workers’ representatives in the upcoming COP conference in Azerbaijan.