Plywood Industry closed leaving 600 workers jobless

By Siraj Khan,Nepalgunj, Nov. 24: Yoyo Plywood Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Kohalpur Municipality of Banke district has been closed for the past three months, leaving 600 workers unemployed. The factory has remained out of operation due to protests organised by the trade union. 

Managing Director of the industry, Rajiv Shrestha, explained that the factory had been shut down due to the protests, which were aimed at disrupting production under the banner of the trade union, All Nepal Industrial Labour Federation. 

He pointed out that most of the union leaders were not even workers of the factory. Meanwhile, the Labour and Employment Office in Nepalgunj recognised a union upon receiving a petition submitted under fake names at the establishment level, which ultimately caused the factory to shut down. Shrestha claimed that the Labour Office acted upon the application bearing fake names and recognised it without verifying it. 

According to him, the industry had not been operating at full capacity for a while and had been suffering daily losses of Rs. 500,000. The situation worsened after the Labour Office froze the company’s account without understanding the reality of the business, forcing them to close down the factory. 

Shrestha added that the closure resulted in a daily loss of over Rs. 1 million, and workers were also facing difficulties. He appealed to concerned authorities to help create a conducive environment for the factory’s operation.

Shobharam Yadav, a worker from Kohalpur-15 who was employed at the factory, expressed his frustration, saying that the factory closed due to increasing external interference in the name of trade union protests, causing him to lose his job. He mentioned that workers had submitted a petition to the Labour Office demanding the cancellation of the trade union, which was formed using the names of people who were not even working at the factory.

Pintu Kumar Rajak, head of the Labour and Employment Office in Nepalgunj, said that the workers of Yoyo Plywood had filed a complaint about not receiving proper wages, and that action was being taken on that complaint. As a result, the company’s account was frozen. However, he also mentioned that both the workers and the factory management were now requesting the authorities to create a favourable environment for the factory to resume operations.

Rajak further informed that, regarding the issue of forged signatures by the union, there is a legal provision allowing the matter to be taken to the Labour Court within 35 days for verification and certification.