KOHALPUR: Over 600 workers at YoYo Plywood Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Kohalpur-14, Banke, have been left unemployed after the factory remained closed for the past three months.
The management shut down the industry, citing protests organized under the banner of the trade union All Nepal Industrial Workers’ Union, leaving workers without jobs. Frustrated by the loss of employment, workers have now turned to the Labor Office in Nepalgunj, demanding job security rather than union-related action.
The formation of the trade union in the factory led to a division among workers. Shobharam Yadav, a resident of Kohalpur-15, expressed concern that the union-led agitation caused the loss of their livelihoods.
Some workers claim that the union was formed using fake names of individuals who were not even employed in the factory. They have submitted petitions to the Labor Office demanding the cancellation of the union registration. Yadav alleged that union leaders have threatened and intimidated workers who made such demands.
Geeta Tharu, a worker from Kohalpur-6, said that securing employment is currently more urgent than union issues, as she and others have been unemployed for the past two months due to union protests.
Rajiv Shrestha, Managing Director of the industry, stated that most of the union leaders are not even active employees. He criticized the Labor Office, Nepalgunj, for registering the union at the establishment level without verifying the authenticity of the submitted signatures.
Shrestha added that the union created obstacles even before the factory could operate at full capacity. The factory, which was already running at a daily loss of around NPR 500,000, had to shut down after the Labor Office froze its accounts without fully understanding the situation. He said the factory currently suffers losses exceeding NPR 1 million per day and urged authorities to ensure a smooth operating environment.
Pintukumar Rajak, head of the Labor and Employment Office in Nepalgunj, acknowledged the division among workers. He explained that some workers had filed complaints about unpaid wages under the union’s name, and actions taken against those complaints led to the freezing of the factory’s account. Both workers and management are now calling for an environment conducive to the resumption of operations.
Regarding the trade union registration, Rajak said that the organization was registered based on the submitted application and workers’ signatures. Legal provisions allow anyone disputing the authenticity of the signatures to appeal to the Labor Court within 35 days.
YoYo Plywood Industries, operating for the past five years, had provided employment opportunities to the local Khatik community residing in Dhorpur and Thadagaun of Kohalpur Municipality-14. The factory’s closure has deprived locals of one of their primary sources of livelihood.
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