Surya Nepal briefs workers on shut down

Surya Nepal on Thursday formally informed its workers about the decision to permanently shut down its garment manufacturing unit, following which all trade unionists present flayed the decision and announced fresh protests.

Two days after deciding on the shut down, Surya Nepal management called a meeting with workers and informed them about the decision. Top company officials elaborated on their stance on the labor stir that had left production closed since two months and the reason for shutting down the factory.

Ravi KC, corporate vice-president of Surya Nepal, and Avadesh Jha, head of the garment unit, also formally sought the workers´ approval to close down the factory.

However, trade union officials flayed the decision and demanded that management instantly resume operations. They vented their ire after KC and Jha declined to fulfill their demands, and they announced a new protest program.

The protest program was supported by all major trade unions, including All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF), ANTUF-Revolutionary and General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) as well as local trade unions.

“The management has deceived the entire workers of the factory,” said Dharmananda Sanjel, central chairman of Nepal Independent Textile Workers Union (NITWU). “It has decided to punish hundreds of workers for the unruly behavior of a few.”

The shutdown decision has instantly rendered more than 1,400 workers jobless.

Sanjel said the objective of the new protest program was to press the management to withdraw its decision.

Surya Nepal decided to shut down the factory on Tuesday, pointing out that continued closure of the factory since June 15 had caused ´irreparable losses´. KC said it drove away buyers and left the company without any orders.

Following the decision, the management on Wednesday also started to pay outstanding salaries for June and announced that they would soon move ahead to pay off the workers for the shut down.

But the announcement drew instant criticism and protests from the trade unions. “The decision is unjust,” said Sanjel. “The management cannot close the factory just like that. It must lodge an application at the Department of Labor and start paying them off only after the department permits it to lay off workers,” said Tej Lal Karna, member of ANTUF-R.

Under the first phase of the protest program, Karna said the workers will organize sit-ins at the factory from Friday. They have also decided to picket the Labor Office, the District Administration Office (DAO) and Morang Industry Association (MIA) to build pressure.

“We will bring the factory back into operation at any cost,” said Sanjel. “If these peaceful protests do not work, we will also begin armed protests from street to force the management to reopen the factory,” he added.

Meanwhile, different business bodies including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) have expressed grave concern over the closure of Surya Nepal´s garment factory.

Issuing separate press statements, they have asked the government authority concerned to resolve the long-running differences between workers and employers.

“The closure of the factory has sent out a negative message to the international arena on the industrial climate in the country,” said the FNCCI in its statement. The CNI, for its part, has appealed to the trade unions, management and government to find a solution through tri-partite talks.