News

UNI Global Union sends its solidarity to the people of Nepal following the devastating earthquake that hit the country on Saturday and calls for funds to be made available for an immediate and widespread relief effort.

UNI staff in Nepal are urgently collecting the latest information on members and assessing what the organisation can do to help those affected. The UNI Nepalese Liaison Committee office was hit during the quake and staff remain unable to enter the building to view the extent of the damage. The earthquake has killed over three thousand people and injured many thousands more. Homes, buildings and infrastructure have also been destroyed.

The UNI Liaison Council held a brief meeting requesting unions to provide information on damages and losses. Many unions with members in affected districts say they still have no clue as to what has happened to their members. Many union members have reported losing their homes.

Speaking from Kathmandu, UNI Asia and Pacific Director Rajendra Acharya said, “I was in the office when suddenly the quake started and it kept coming - shock after shock.

“We are collecting information about members and seeing what we can do to help," he added.

“All people in Kathmandu and the major cities of Nepal are now taking shelter at open spaces and fields. They are gathered on road sides and river banks. It is a really terrifying situation unless it is all settled and situation come to normalcy.”

The government has declared a state of emergency in order to carry out rescue work . The ITUC has appealed to the international community to mount a huge relief effort.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said, “Our thoughts are first and foremost with the bereaved and those who have been injured. Thousands of people have lost their homes, and are without other essentials. The world must mount a major aid effort to tackle the immediate crisis, and to help the people of Nepal reconstruct their country.”

The ITUC has sent letters to the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, calling for an emergency suspension of the kafala sponsorship system by Gulf States to allow Nepalese migrant workers to return home. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese migrant workers in the Gulf can only leave the country if their employer decides to allow them to go under the notorious kafala system.