SARTUC/ILO Stakeholder Interaction Program on Protecting Migrant Workers’ Rights
14-15 July, 2014
Kathmandu, Nepal
Summary Report
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The SARTUC/ILO Stakeholder Interaction Program on Protecting Migrant Workers’ Rights brought together trade union representatives, recruitment agency representatives, and senior government officials to chart a way forward to address the plethora of concerns plaguing the foreign employment sector. The first part of the program – itself divided into six working sessions – was an internal meeting of trade unions comprising the three ITUC affiliated trade unions of Nepal – All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions (ANTUF), General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), and Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC). During the course of the first six sessions, trade unions held discussions on the implementation of the Kathmandu Plan of Action and formulated concrete steps to be undertaken by trade unions, government agencies, and recruitment agencies in order to meet the objectives laid out in the said document. The final session was a tripartite dialogue between representatives of trade unions, recruitment agencies, and senior government officials – including the Honorable Tek Bahadur Gurung, State Minister of Labour and Employment and Members of the Constituent Assembly – which laid the groundwork for a long-term tripartite strategy to ensure a safe and decent labour migration environment.
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Day 1 (14th July, 2014)
Opening Session: Welcome remarks and introductory notes
Laxman Basnet (SARTUC) began the opening session of the first day with an introduction and welcoming of the participants, including the chief guest, Jose Assalino (ILO), and leaders of the three member unions including Khilanath Dahal (NTUC), Shalikram Jamarkattel (ANTUF), and Ramesh Baral (GEFONT). Following the welcome remarks, Laxman Basnet highlighted the major themes that would be discussed during the course of the interaction program including standard unified contracts, minimum wages, minimum standards, gender inequality, and labour migration governance.
Following the welcome note, Jose Assalino, Country Director of ILO-Kathmandu, inaugurated the program. In his address, he highlighted the contribution of labour migration and remittance towards poverty reduction in Nepal and other countries of South Asia. He stressed the need for bilateral agreements between origin and destination countries in order to secure the rights of migrant workers. Finally, he expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the three major trade unions of Nepal had established a working unity to address issues faced by migrant workers and expressed his belief that the interaction program would help to establish minimum standards for migrant workers.
The next speaker, Ramesh Badal, stressed the need for all trade unions to establish a “legal desk†in order to empower migrant workers. He also noted that Welfare Fund actually needed to be utilized for the welfare of migrants and stressed the need for stronger working relations between trade unions in origin and destination countries. Following Ramesh Badal, Shalik Ram Jamarkattel noted that the primary reason why migrant workers were facing numerous challenges in the country of destination was that a vast majority of these migrants hailed from agricultural communities with very little information on urban work environments. Given that many of the problems being faced by migrants was due to the non-enforcement of contracts and also given the fact that oftentimes the body of deceased migrants cannot even be repatriated back to Nepal, he expressed his belief that it was high time for trade unions to think seriously about such issues plaguing the foreign employment sector. The next speaker, Khila Nath Dahal, began his address by highlighting the increasing trend of female workers going abroad for work and noted that this upward trend was likely to continue into the foreseeable future. He also expressed his belief that the dire situation of migrant workers was due to the lax implementation of rules and regulations by the government. Finally, he emphasized the need to provide skills training for unskilled workers and the need to utilize the skill of returnee migrants towards the development of the country.
Working Session 1: Role of TUs in the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights
The session started with a brief presentation by Ashim Bhattarai (CESLAM) where he discussed trade union involvement with regards to migrant workers. The speaker began the presentation by highlighting some of the challenges routinely faced by migrant workers. Following this, he gave a brief summary of past TU activities aimed at safeguarding the rights and interests of migrant workers. They included:
- Interventions during legislation/policy formulation to address the concerns of migrant workers
- Involvement with the migrant worker Welfare Fund to try and protect the interest of workers
- Formation of a special committee to raise awareness on migrant workers’ issues and a legal cell to provide legal assistance to migrant workers
- Establishment of working relations with various trade unions in destination countries including KCTU Korea, MTUC Malaysia, GFBTU of Bahrain, and HKCTU of Hong Kong to organize Nepali migrant workers
- Signing of MoUs with trade unions of destination countries to address challenges faced by migrant workers
- Development of awareness raising materials pertaining to foreign employment
Following the summary presentation by Ashim Bhattarai, one representative from each of the three TU confederations further elaborated on the activities of their respective unions with regards to the welfare of migrant workers.
Working Session 2: Presentations on “Recommendations to improve the labour migration process†and the “SARTUC one-year plan of actionâ€
Presentation by Bandita Sijapati (CESLAM)
The second session of the first day began with a presentation by Bandita Sijapati (CESLAM). Based on recent studies examining foreign employment, the presentation was a summary of recommendations to tackle challenges plaguing the labour migration sector. Her presentation stressed on the need to take a rights based approach and to recognize migrant workers as “rights holdersâ€. For instance, she noted the inadequacy of the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007 to tackle issues of labour trafficking other than sex trafficking and recommended amendment to the Act in order to address all forms of labour trafficking. She also noted that, for instance, irregular migrants were effectively restricted from many of the rights granted to regular migrants and the need to amend existing laws so that irregular migrants are bestowed rights on par with everyone else and have effective access to judicial mechanisms. Furthermore, she highlighted the need to develop “separate but equal†legal processes vis-à -vis criminal prosecution and sentencing of cases pertaining to labour trafficking and labour migration in general.
The presentation then dealt with issues pertaining to employment contracts. The speaker noted the need to mandate either a tripartite agreement (between the migrant, recruitment agency, and the overseas employer) or separate agreements between each of the three parties and to hold the recruitment agency and the employer institution jointly liable when contract terms were violated. She also laid out the outlines of a standard unified contract and recommended ways to make such a contract effective and meaningful. She then discussed ways to improve the migration process at the pre-departure stage. She recommended prohibiting the charging of exorbitant interest with migrant workers, to mandate that recruitment agencies provide a valid receipt for all payments made by migrants, to examine not only the economic viability of recruitment agencies but also their historical record vis-Ã -vis the NAFEA Code of Conduct during license renewal, to amend existing laws to allow agents/brokers to simultaneously work with multiple recruitment agencies and ensure that they are paid by the recruitment agencies and not by the migrant workers. Following this, she also highlighted issues pertaining to pre-departure orientation training and mentioned specific steps to make it more effective and accessible.
The next issue covered by the presenter focused on ways to improve migrant workers’ access to justice. She stressed on the need to strengthen the rights based legal framework, to expand legal support mechanisms to the local level, to expand the visibility of workers, especially female workers, and to create an environment for their participation at the policy formulation level, to strengthen information channels and raise awareness among workers, and to regularly monitor and evaluate the various processes, trainings, and services available at the pre-departure stage.
Finally, she highlighted the importance of signing bilateral agreements with destination countries that focused on the rights of migrant workers and also stressed on the need to create a SAARC level regional framework to safeguard migrant workers’ rights.
Presentation by Ashim Bhattarai (CESLAM)
The second presentation of the session by Ashim Bhattarai laid out the objectives, outputs, and specific activities contained in the SARTUC One-Year Work Plan. The One-Year Work Plan – which is a subset of the broader Plan of Action adopted by the SARTUC/ILO/ ITUC-AP Focal Persons Workshop in December 2013 – has three major objectives: (i) Enable TU governance, management structure and membership, to be fully conducive to the active involvement of migrant workers within the national trade union movement; (ii) Ensuring that TUs have relevant and accurate information on migrant workers and the labour migration process; and (iii) Coordinate activities related to SARTUC and ILO in regards to international agreements and conventions on labour standards and national ratification. Finally, the presentation concluded by examining the concrete outputs that fall under each of the three objectives and the specific activities that have been planned to achieve those outputs.
Working Session 3: Revising/reforming TU constitution and structures to incorporate the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers and to facilitate their membership into TUs
During this session, participants were requested by the session chair to form trade union specific working groups – i.e. groups were formed on the basis of TU affiliation, leading to a total of three working groups – to discuss and analyze existing TU constitutional provisions and structures related to the membership of migrant workers. The three groups were also asked to discuss whether existing provisions/structures in their respective trade unions were sufficient for a long-term membership drive to recruit migrant workers and suggest any changes that they thought were warranted. Following a round of discussions, a representative from each of the three groups gave a brief presentation (summarized below).
Summary Presentation: All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions (ANTUF)
ANTUF has been organizing migrant workers in destination countries under the National Coordination Committee through the Pragatisheel Migrant Workers Forum. The Forum is directed by the International and Workers Relation Department in accordance with the ANTUF constitution. In terms of future activities, ANTUF needs to coordinate with ITUC affiliates in destination countries and the ITUC Global Union. There is also a need to create a dedicated cell to work specifically in the labour migration sector. ANTUF will adopt these changes at the 6th National convention after holding appropriate discussions.
Summary Presentation: General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT)
With regards to activities in destination countries, GEFONT has created Support Groups in six destination countries including Korea, Malaysis, Qatar, Hong Kong, Lebanon, and India. GEFONT has also been working with destination country trade unions and has signed memorandums of understanding with trade unions and civil society groups in South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Lebanon (KAFA).
At present, migrant worker related activities fall under the purview of the Migrant Committee (Department of Foreign Affairs) and in the future GEFONT plans to establish an Independent Migrant Workers' Committee to further facilitate and strengthen its work with migrant workers. GEFONT is actively involved in the formulation and implementation of policies pertaining to foreign employment and is working to settle and provide support with regards to legal cases involving migrant workers.
Summary Presentation: Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC)
At present, NTUC has migrant Support Groups in Malaysia, Japan, and Qatar. NTUC plans to establish a Migration Cell in each destination country and when that is not legally feasible, it will continue to assist migrants via Communication Committees which already exist in most of the major destination countries.
Session 4: Development of a National TU Migration Policy including the establishment of minimum standards for South Asian migrants
The focus of the fourth (and the final) session of the day was to parse out the specific elements that would be incorporated into the national level trade union migration policy. The broad themes that would be discussed during the session were largely derived from the Work Plan Adopted by the SARTUC/ILO/ITUC-AP Focal Persons’ Workshop (December 2013). The themes included:
- Good Governance [Please re-check the topics under this theme]
- Rescue and Repatriation
- Right to Vote (for Current Migrants)
- Passport Distribution
- Equal Pay for Equal Work
- Decentralization of Government Agencies
- Loans and the Issue of Exorbitant Interest Payments
- Bilateral (Labour) Agreements
- Consular Services
- TU Involvement in Migration Governance Structures
- Minimum Wage
- Social Security
- Standard Unified Contracts
- Gender Discrimination
The session began with participants suggesting specific topics that needed to be addressed under theme (i) Good Governance [listed above as topics (a) through (h)] while themes (ii) through (vi), since they were more specific, would be addressed directly by working groups. The participants were then requested by the session chair to form three “mixed†working groups – i.e., each group was to have representatives from all three participating trade unions – comprising of about seven members each. Each group was assigned two topics each for detailed discussion. After the group discussions concluded, a representative from each of the three groups gave a brief presentation summarizing the recommendations of the group on the way forward. Following the presentation, the floor was opened for comments which were subsequently incorporated into the document and a revised version of the recommendation list was prepared. The revised list of recommendations was then divided into three categories: actions to be undertaken by (a) the government (Table 1, Annex A), (b) trade unions (Table 2, Annex A), and (c) recruitment agencies (Table 3, Annex A).
Day 2 (15th July, 2014)
Working Session 5: Standard contracts for migrant workers of the SAARC region
As suggested by its title, the primary focus of the session was to parse out specific details of a model Standard Contract for migrant workers from the SAARC region. The session began with a presentation of the ILO document “Resources and Reference Materials on Standard Employment Contracts for Migrant Workers†by Laxman Basnet. The document laid out the rationale behind the usage of standard contracts and key items that could be incorporated into such a contract. The ILO document contained recommendations and guidelines from Article 22 of ILO Recommendation No. 86, the ILO Manual Sending Workers Abroad, the ILO Glossary of Labour law and Industrial Relations, the OSCE-IOM-ILO Handbook on Establishing Effective Labour Migration Policies, the ILO Guide to Private Employment Agencies: Guidelines, monitoring and enforcement (2007), the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): Dhaka Principles, the Fair Labour Association Model Agreements, and the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Migrant Worker Management Toolkit. After the presentation, the floor was opened for comments and queries. Following a round of discussion, the participants finalized a model standard contract, as seen in Annex B.Â
Working Session 6: Building the capacity of TUs to provide information and support to migrant workers
The discussions during the course of this session were focused on the service delivery capacity of trade unions. Specific areas for capacity building are, once more, derived from the Work Plan adopted in December 2013 and include:
- Legal support mechanisms for migrant workers
- Framework for monitoring recruitment agencies
- Mechanisms to implement contracts at destination countries
- Migrant support groups at destination countries
- Improving pre-departure orientation training
- Awareness raising campaigns for prospective migrants
- National and regional level framework to share best practices
As with previous sessions, this session began with the session chair requesting participants to form three “mixed†working groups – i.e., each group was to have representatives from all three participating trade unions – comprising of about seven members each. Each group was assigned either two or three topics each for detailed discussion. After the group discussions concluded, a representative from each of the three groups gave a brief presentation summarizing recommendations of the group on the way forward. Following the presentation, the floor was opened for comments which were subsequently incorporated into the document and a revised version of the recommendation list was prepared. The revised list of recommendations was then divided into three categories: actions to be undertaken by (a) the government (Table 1, Annex A), (b) trade unions (Table 2, Annex A), and (c) recruitment agencies (Table 3, Annex A).
Preparations for the Tripartite Meeting
After the end of the sixth working session, preparations began for the tripartite meeting between trade unions representatives, government representatives, and recruitment agency representatives. Three separate documents – consisting of roles and responsibilities for each one of the three tripartite actors – was compiled (as seen in Annex A) based on the revised recommendation list from preceding working sessions. The three trade unions then nominated one representative each to present one of the three documents at the tripartite meeting.
Opening Session of the Tripartite Dialogue
The opening session of the tripartite dialogue was kicked off by Laxman Basnet with an introduction and welcoming of the representatives from recruitment agencies, trade unions, and the government, including the Chief Guest, the Honourable Tek Bahadur Gurung, State Minister of Labour and Employment. Following the welcome remarks, he gave a brief talk on the history of labour migration from Nepal. He noted the fact that current migrants were, in fact, less skilled compared to the migrants of the past as the latter were generally well trained soldiers serving in the British Army. He also highlighted the better benefit packages received by this group – a pension plan, for instance – compared to current migrants. Finally, he stressed on the need for a multi-pronged approach to better train and equip the current migrant population. Following his welcome note, a number of speakers gave a brief address highlighting some of major issues facing the foreign employment sector.
Hari Sharma, Director, Alliance for Social Dialogue (ASD)
Hari Sharma highlighted the rights based approach taken by trade unions vis-a-vis labour migrants. He also highlighted the fact that the trade union movement was an international movement and recommended that the government utilize the global appeal of the movement and think of trade unions as social partners rather than treat them as troublemakers. He also stressed on the need for the government to take “ownership†of managing the foreign employment sector.
Kamal Raj Bhandari, Director General, Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE)
Kamal Raj Bhandari noted that unemployment and a lack of job opportunities in Nepal was what was primarily driving people to look for work overseas. The large-scale exodus of young workers, he noted, was creating a severe shortage of human resources in Nepal, especially in the agricultural sector. He also highlighted the fact that remittances were being used primarily for consumption rather than productive investment since the propensity to consume for the average remittance-receiving household was about ninety percent. Furthermore, he urged all stakeholders to seriously rethink the low-skill labour-export model and emphasized the urgent need to train potential migrants so they get a better return during the course of employment abroad. Finally, in his capacity as the Director General of DoFE, he reiterated his commitment to effectively tackle the various challenges plaguing the foreign employment sector.
Dev Raj Dahal, Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)
Dev Raj Dahal highlighted the need to develop a three-layered framework to effectively address migrant labour issues including mechanisms at the national, regional, and global level. He stressed that social justice should remain at the core of all mechanisms and actions of trade unions to safeguard the rights and interests of migrant workers and that ILO Core Labour Standards and other international instruments ought to be effectively utilized for the purpose. Furthermore, given that all South Asian countries have ratified UN Human Rights Conventions, he noted that South Asian countries needed to utilize social democracy, social justice, and democracy as the guiding norm at international forums. Finally, he urged all stakeholders to make full use of the fact that the SAARC Summit was going to be held in Kathmandu to get the agenda of migrant workers onboard the SAARC process.
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Working Session: Roles and responsibilities of the government, trade unions, and recruitment agencies
During this session, one representative from each of the three trade unions gave a brief presentation on the roles and responsibilities of each of the tripartite actors, namely the government, trade unions, and recruitment agencies. These presentations were based on the documents prepared by the meeting of the three trade unions in the preceding sessions. Yogendra Kunwar (NTUC) gave the presentation on the roles/responsibilities of the Government (Table 1, Annex A), Nisha Baniya (GEFONT) gave the presentation on the roles/responsibilities of Trade Unions (Table 2, Annex A), and Ramesh “Toofan†Pandit (ANTUF) gave the presentation on the roles/responsibilities of Recruitment Agencies (Table 3, Annex A).
Following the presentations, speakers representing the government and recruitment agencies shared their concerns and commitments for future action.
Hansa Raj Wagle, President, Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA)
Hansa Raj Wagle urged stakeholders to differentiate between national and migrant workers. He noted that trade unions had been fighting to safeguard the interests of national workers and they also have the right to do the same for migrants but he urged trade unions to reconsider to what extent the strategy might be a feasible. He also urged stakeholders to differentiate between recruitment agencies and overseas employers, noting that the former were not themselves the employer and the need to reframe the conversation accordingly. He noted that it was not possible to solve the challenges being faced by migrant workers if they are viewed through the same lens used to analyze the domestic labour market. Finally, he highlighted some of the positive aspects of migration and remittance and noted that an extensive research project followed by a comprehensive tripartite dialogue was needed to address the various challenges being faced by migrant workers.
Ram Karki, Member of the Constituent Assembly, UCPN (Maoist)
Ram Karki began his address by noting that that no country in the world had developed by exporting labour. He highlighted the fact that migrant workers had effectively become the primary export of the country which could not be a long-term strategy for development but acknowledged that the trend could be halted immediately as the country could not provide gainful employment to all job aspirants. He noted that until politics and the government became effective vehicles for change, no significant overhauls were possible and only “cosmetic†solutions could be provided. He lamented that national level conversations had limited scope as destination countries routinely ignored inputs from origin countries. He stressed on the need for the government to provide skills training at the local level and to establish a “labour exchange†of skilled workers so that stakeholders have an overall situational awareness and a tool to link skilled workers to appropriate employment opportunities. Finally, he noted that, given the fact that the Nepali state was weak at the international stage, there was very little respect for the rights of its citizens overseas so it was high time for stakeholders to focus on absorbing the workers in the domestic market.
Anand Prasad Dhungana, Member of the Constituent Assembly, Nepali Congress
Anand Prasad Dhungana began his address by noting that foreign employment was a by-product of poverty and unemployment. He noted that many migrants are cheated by recruitment agencies and their salary and job-type is often not in accordance with the actual contract and migrants often return with very little savings. He stressed on the urgent need for a tripartite agreement and added that the problems plaguing the labour migration sector could not be resolved otherwise. He urged the government to develop laboratories and school for skills training in each district. Finally, he noted that if the proposed “labour bank†could address the issue of financing for migrants by providing them loan access through the banking system, it would mean that migrants would no longer be exposed to the exorbitant interest rates currently being charged by local money-lenders.
The Honourable Tek Bahadur Gurung, State Minister of Labour and Employment
The Minister praised the role of migrant workers to not only uplift the situation of their own households but also to uplift the economy as a whole. He noted that Nepal was going through a political and economic transition and until economic growth gathered pace and employment opportunities improved, the trend of out-migration was likely to continue. He expressed his belief that it was high time to think seriously about protecting the rights of migrants as the ever increasing trend of out-migration coupled with a lack of government resources to properly regulate the process had given a free rein to unscrupulous elements to take advantage of the situation. He also informed the participants that the Ministry of Labour and Employment was in the process of reforming the Foreign Employment Act, developing a 15-year plan to implement foreign employment related policies, and negotiating bilateral agreements/MoUs with destination countries. Finally, he highlighted the importance of a tripartite approach in order to address the many challenges facing the foreign employment sector.
Closing Session
Laxman Basnet thanked all the delegates for their participation and declared the meeting adjourned.
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Annex A: Roles and Responsibilities of the Government, Trade Unions, and Recruitment Agencies
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Table 1: Roles and Responsibilities of the Government | |
Subject | Roles and Responsibilities |
Minimum wages and benefits | ü To urge destination countries to fix equal salary and benefits (for equal work) for all migrant workers from South Asia ü To get the SAARC Summit to approve a framework for determining minimum wages and minimum standards at the regional level
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Rescue and Repatriation | ü To establish a “Rescue Unit†within the Nepali embassy located in destination countries and to involve representatives of trade unions and the labour attaché in the unit ü To support the Rescue Unit both technically as well as financially ü To strengthen coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Employment, and other concerned ministries. ü To establish a “Rescue Fund†either by taxing a fixed percentage of profits from recruitment agencies and remittance based financial institutions or through voluntary contributions from them to ensure welfare and social security for dependent family members of migrants |
[Topic?] | ü To implement policies to reduce the pressure on migrant workers |
Right to Vote | ü To enable migrant workers to have access and representation at the policy formulation level by allowing them to vote without discrimination and on par with resident citizens |
Equal pay for equal work
| ü To adopt a policy of seeking equal salary and benefits for equal work for all migrant workers while signing agreements with destination countries ü Similarly, to adopt a policy of non-discrimination vis-à -vis rights, wages, and benefits on the grounds of gender, caste, ethnicity, origin, nationality, and skin-color. |
Social Security | ü To ensure that the Welfare Fund is only utilized for the protection and rescue of migrant workers and to ensure welfare and social security for dependent family members of migrants ü To include migrant workers in the national social security framework and to arrange for migrants to make contribution towards the same |
Gender Discrimination | ü To remove the ban on female migrant workers below the age of 30 to go for domestic work abroad and to end all forms of gender discrimination ü To ensure safe migration for domestic workers going abroad ü To ensure effective and efficient legal aid for victims |
Passport Related  | ü To make the passport distribution process smooth and efficient and to establish a separate desk for migrant workers ü To arrange for the distribution of passports from each and every district ü To digitize the process of age verification during the distribution of citizenship certificates and passports
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Pre-Departure Orientation Training | ü To utilize governmental mechanisms in order to arrange for government bodies to deliver pre-departure orientation training
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Right to Information | ü To mobilize trade union representatives under the coordination of the government to ensure households have accurate information ü To arrange for DoFE to distribute accurate and up-to-date information via their website
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Recruitment via an Online System | ü To prepare a roster of prospective migrant workers using the DoFE website and to publish the name-list so created to arrange for their recruitment
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Administrative Decentralization | ü To make arrangements for zonal labour offices to handle grievances and to distribute final labour permits along with the employment contracts |
Utilizing the Banking Mechanisms |
ü To ensure that trained workers have access to interest-free loans from appointed banks on the basis of a job guarantee ü To arrange for migrant workers to pay recruitment agencies through the banking system ü To mandate that remittance incomes be transferred through the banking system
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Bio-Metric System  | ü To ensure that workers have free of cost access to the bio-metric system in lieu of the 15 US dollars currently being charged
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Trade Union Involvement in Government Agencies | ü To ensure that (government) recognized trade union are included in the foreign employment related policy formulation process and monitoring as well as in concerned government agencies ü To ensure that the labour attaché appointee is either a government or a trade union labour expert
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Other Tasks  | ü To ratify related ILO and UN Conventions ü To ensure that labour agreements are signed with destination countries and to disseminate information regarding the same ü To facilitate access to justice ü To ensure that legal support is available in all Nepali embassies ü As envisaged by the ILO, to ensure that recruitment fees are not being charged ü To ensure effective implementation of the Foreign Employment Act and the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act |
Table 2: Roles and Responsibilities of Trade Unions | |
Subject | Roles and Responsibilities |
Minimum wages and benefits | ü To push for the involvement of TUs during relevant [international] agreements ü To organize awareness raising programs |
Rescue and Repatriation | ü Mandatory involvement of TUs and the labour attaché in the rescue committee/centre/desk ü To push relevant agencies and the government to rescue/repatriate workers and, to the extent possible, utilize TU networks for the same |
Right to Vote | ü To advocate for migrant workers to have access and representation at the policy formulation level by allowing them to vote without discrimination and on par with resident citizens |
Equal pay for equal work
| ü To advocate against discrimination faced by migrant workers in the destination countries with regards to equal pay and benefits for equal work ü Similarly, to advocate against discrimination vis-à -vis rights, wages, and benefits on the grounds of gender, caste, ethnicity, origin, nationality, and skin-color. |
Gender Discrimination | ü To push for the removal of the ban on female migrant workers below the age of 30 to go for domestic work abroad ü To create pressure in order to ensure a safe migration environment for domestic workers going abroad ü To ensure effective and efficient legal aid for victims ü To get involved at the policy formulation level in order to ensure gender friendly labour management |
Social Security | ü To push for the inclusion of migrant workers in the national social security framework |
Trade Union Involvement in Government Agencies | ü To push for the involvement of authorized trade unions during the policy formulation process ü To ensure that the labour attaché appointee is a representative of an authorized trade union |
Right to Information | ü To disseminate accurate information at the household level and to mobilize trade union representatives to ensure the same
|
Bio-Metric System | ü To push for the workers to have free of cost access to the bio-metric system in lieu of the 15 dollars currently being charged |
Awareness | ü To mobilize TU recommended volunteers with the support of the government ü To publish and distribute various awareness raising materials ü To develop common programs and to establish a joint fund ü To organize tripartite (government, trade unions, and recruitment agencies) dialogue and interaction programs (lower level) |
National Level Structure
| ü To create a structure involving two migrant representatives from each TU confederation |
SAARC Level Regional Structure
| ü To appoint one representative from each TU confederation – from among their representatives in the national level structure – in the regional level structure |
Legal Support Mechanism for Migrant Workers | ü To establish a Joint Trade Union Legal Advisory Committee ü Nepali embassies should establish a Legal Advisor or a Legal Desk and regular coordination needs to exists between the Advisor/Desk and the Joint Trade Union Legal Advisory Committee ü To ensure that priority is given to trade union and labour law experts while appointing the labour attaché |
Framework for Monitoring Recruitment Agencies
| ü To develop a joint mechanism involving trade unions and other stakeholders in the field of labour migration ü To develop a trade union specific mechanism in order to assist the joint mechanism
|
Migrant Support Group at Destination Countries  | ü All trade unions to develop their union specific support groups ü To develop common support groups ü To create a social network of support groups in the various destination countries to facilitate information/experience sharing ü ITUC affiliated TU confederations in Nepal to develop a common migrant forum ü To develop linkages between the support groups and TUs in the relevant destination country and provide mutual assistance ü To develop a network of stakeholders involved in the field of migration ü Local TU and TU ü Civil Society ü Embassy ü International Right based organization |
Improving Pre-departure Orientation Training  | ü Capacity building of training centers ü Establishment of properly equipped government run training centers ü To ensure that training sessions are conducted by able and qualified trainers ü Development of thematic educational materials ü Creation of a website and the establishment of Resource Centers at the local level ü Independent and effective monitoring of training centers
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Table 3: Roles and Responsibilities of Recruitment Agencies | |
Subject | Roles and Responsibilities |
Minimum wages and benefits | ü Implementation [of minimum wages and benefits] in accordance with government agreements |
Rescue and Repatriation | ü Government and Recruitment Agencies need to bear the cost (of rescue/repatriation) ü To establish a “Rescue Fund†either by taxing a fixed percentage of profits from recruitment agencies and remittance based financial institutions or through voluntary contributions from them to ensure welfare and social security for migrants or their dependent family members ü To push the relevant company [for rescue/repatriation] in accordance with the existing agreement on a mandatory basis |
Gender Discrimination | ü To send female migrant workers through legal/formal channels ü To make the pre-departure orientation training effective
|
Contractual Agreement | ü To charge only the [government] approved fee, to provide a receipt for all payments made, and to avoid withholding any advance payment for a long period of time ü To end the phenomenon of providing dual contracts and to only send workers for safe jobs in secure countries |
Good Management Practices | ü To engage in healthy business competition in order to end the expensive process of foreign employment ü To seek labour demand in countries that are relatively safe and where workers receive a fair return ü To develop and monitor a mechanism to verify labour demand and make relevant arrangements for rewards and punishment ü To bear legal responsibility in case migrant workers are arbitrarily/forcefully terminated from their jobs ü To bear the responsibility of intervening in cases where migrant workers are mistreated by their employers abroad |
Right to Information | ü To disseminate accurate information
|
Accountability | ü To assist migrants to resolve problems that arise during the course of the contract period in accordance with the labour permit ü To ensure that victims have access to justice and receive compensation
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Annex B
Model Standard Contract (Recommended Items): 1 Copy in Nepali, 1 Copy in English, and 1 Copy in Arabic
- Period of Contract
- Migrant workers' data
- Employer's data
- Duration of contract
- Place of employment duties / nature of work
- Duties of the employer
- Remuneration: Amount of salary, allowances, mode of payment,
- Working hours and break time
- Rest day per week
- Leave Entitlement: yearly leave days, medical leave with wage
- Food and accommodation
- Insurance
- Travelling cost
- Cost of resident permit
- Levi
- Deductions
- Settlement of disputes
- Repatriation and benefits
- Normal
- Emergency
- Accident and personal injury
- Termination of employment
- Termination by employer
- Termination by Worker
- Compensation
- Extension of Contract
- Death
- The terms of this contract do not preclude the worker from other entitlements under the employment of foreign employment of foreign workers of the host country. The minimum facilities shall not be less than the provisions of this contract.
- In case of abuse or any violation of terms committed by the employer against the worker, the recruitment agency shall cooperate with the competent authority to assist the worker in seeking redress and in following up on reported grievances.
- Date of contract
Signatory:
Worker                                  Employer                              Foreign Employment agency
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