‘Govt preparing to raise wages’

Kathmandu, April 30

The 129th International Labour Day is being marked across the globe tomorrow.

A meeting of the labour organisations and labour leaders of the world held in Paris in 1889 took the decision to mark World Labour Day across the globe every year. With this decision, May 1 has been celebrated as World Labour Day since 1890.

Taking the May Day as a festival, workers celebrate the day with several programmes to pile pressure on the government and employers to have their rights guaranteed.

In Nepal also, various trade union organisations are preparing to celebrate the Day by organising different programmes on the occasion.

Nepal has marked the celebration of the Day with the Workers Movement that started in Biratnagar in 1950.

Nepal government began granting public holiday on the day following the political change in 1990.

GEFONT Chair Binod Shrestha said the government should lay emphasis on the increment of labourers’ wage and effective and efficient mobilisation of social security fund. The wage should be increased every two years so the government should hold consultation with stakeholders in this regard this year, he  added.

Former president of Nepal Trade Union Congress Laxman Bahadur Basnet stressed the need to formulate and implement worker-friendly policy when the new government is in place as per the constitution. “New provision has been enshrined; new government is in place. The government should arrange worker-friendly policy to promote employment in the country.”

All Nepal Trade Union Federation Chair Ganesh Regmi stressed the need to immediately formulate and enforce regulations when the contribution-based Social Security Fund Act and New Labour Act have already come into effect.

Meanwhile, the government is making preparations to increase the wage of workers in a proper manner.

In a meeting held with the representatives of Joint Trade Union Coordination Committee of Workers today, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Raj Bista said efforts will be made to increase wages properly by instituting a Minimum Wage Board.