A Symbiotic Coexistence

The aim of this article is to contribute to our understanding of how the Nepalese Maoist movement intersects with non-Maoist trade unions. I challenge dominant views of an enduring antagonism between the Nepalese Maoist movement and non-Maoist trade unions. Instead, I contend that for an urban municipality in the western tarai, the Maoist movement and non-Maoist labour unions co-reside, in a symbiotic relationship, within the boundaries of the town. I highlight how, while Maoists claim to represent labour in general, their actions focus largely on the protection of a specific segment of the town’s labour force. Maoists offer political patronage to formerly bonded labourers’ neighbourhoods but neglect other labour concerns. This political vacuum surrounding the representation of labour has instead been filled by two non-Maoist labour unions that emerged in the wake of the insurgency period. I document the development of these groups and look at the various forms of collective action they employ, which include strikes, the mediation of labour disputes, monthly union meetings and the institutionalization of collective bargaining procedures. I suggest that an important effect of the new trade unionism in town is the incorporation of formerly bonded labourers into the unions’ power structures.