Kathmandu. World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) expressed its solidarity with the US working-class movement.
WFTU Coordinating Committee organized a press meet at Kathmandu on June 19, 2020 followed by a solidarity programme. The leaders of the WFTU Affiliate Unions CONEP, NEFON, NTUF, ANTUC, REFONT, DEFONT, DECONT, ANTRUF and PICONT and TUIs participated in the solidarity event.
Addressing the press meet, Trade Union leaders briefed the situation of workers in the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown period. Comrade Premal Kumar Khanal, member of the WFTU Presidential Council chaired the press meet and comrade Mohan Man Swar, a member of FC of the WFTU, also addressed the event.
Before the solidarity events, a delegation of WFTU Co-ordination Committee met the Nepalese Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Hon. Rameshwar Raya Yadav, to handover a 7 Points Letter of Memorandum to be submitted to the Prime Minister.
In the Letter of Memorandum, WFTU coordination committee demanded with the government to provide an immediate package for daily wage-workers affected by Covid-19 lockdown, the immediate establishment of a 100 billions employment fund for unemployed and laid-off workers during the lockdown, to take effective measures for taking care of the migrant workers and to have a diplomatic talk with the recipient country’s governments, equal treatment of migrant workers as per the international convention of migrant workers’ right in this pandemic situation and an appeal to the UN, UN agencies like ILO, FAO to declare and launch a stimulus package programme for the COVID1-9 affected workers of the least developed countries.
Talking with the Left Review Online, Trade Union leader and member of the WFTU Presidential Council, comrade Premal Kumar Khanal said that the WTFU also demanded effective implementation of WHO, ILO and OHS measures in all work-places for safety against Covid-19, to control price-hike and manage the effective supply of daily food items, expand PCR lab test in all of the Covid-19 vulnerable districts, to strengthen public enterprises (PEs), especially related to Agriculture, Dairy, Food supply and medicine industry, for the effective service delivery and easier access of these services to the people of grass root level.
