A critical analysis of the trade union movement in the Nepalese tourism industry

Abstract

This research examines factors that influence trade union movements in the Nepalese tourism industry. In contrast to global trends, the last twenty-five years have seen a remarkable growth in the power and influence of trade unions in the Nepalese tourism industry. With a tremendous increase in the number of trade unions, collective bargaining, strike action, and participation in and organising of demonstrations have become prevalent across all sectors of the tourism industry in Nepal. In spite of the fact that the trade union movements in Nepal exhibits an anomalous trend when compared to trade union movements across the world, nothing in the existing literature identifies factors driving this anomaly in the tourism industry, let alone outlines its contours in the specific context of Nepal. This research aims to fill this gap. Focusing on hotels and airlines in Kathmandu, Nepal, the data on which this research is based were collected from April 2015 to February 2016 through unstructured interviews with fifty-one participants including trade union officials and members, employees who were not a member of trade unions, current employers with trade unions in their hotels or airlines, former employers who have had experience with the trade unions, and government employees responsible for regulating and monitoring tourism and employment.

The research identifies that the interplay of limited improvements in the working environment in the tourism industry and some dynamic changes in the political environment in Nepal have shaped and influenced the trade union movements. Limited improvements in the working environment were primarily the result of employers' attitudes, and concomitant poor income and employment conditions in the tourism industry, together with an unsupportive (for labour) regulatory environment prevailing in the country. This dearth of progress has acted as an internal driving force for Nepalese tourism industry workers to organise trade unions in order to protect their rights and interests. In contrast, dynamic transformations in the political environment of Nepal have been experienced in four noteworthy periods since early 1990, particularly the rise of the Maoist movements, which has acted as an external driving force that has provided strength to the trade unions in their struggle against a generally poor working environment. The study demonstrates the fragility of industrial relations within the tourism industry in Nepal. It also contributes to our understanding of the poorly understood and researched phenomenon of trade union movements in the tourism industry in general, and in the Asian context in particular.