Kathmandu, April 30 – The 129th International Labour Day is being marked across the globe on Tuesday.
A meeting of the labour organizations and labour leaders of the world held at Paris of France in 1889 took the decision to mark the World Labour Day across the globe every year. With this decision, May 1 has been celebrated as the World Labour Day since 1890.
Taking the May Day as a festival, workers celebrate this day with several programmes to pile pressure on the government and employers to have their rights guaranteed.
In Nepal also, various trade union organizations are making preparations for celebrating the Day by organizing different programmes on the occasion. Nepal has marked the celebration of the Day with the Workers Movement (Majdoor Andolan) held at Biratnagar in 2007 BS, some 68 years ago.
Nepal government began granting public holiday on the day following the political change in 1990.
Talking to RSS, GEFONT Chairperson Binod Shrestha said that the government should lay special emphasis on the increment of labourers’ wage and effective and efficient mobilization of social security fund.
The labour wage should be increased in every two years so the government should hold stakeholders consultation to do so 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 Nepal Constitution. “New provision has been enshrined; new government is in place. The government should arrange worker-friendly policy to promote employment within the country”.
All Nepal Trade Union Federation Chairperson Ganesh Regmi underlined the need to immediately formulate and enforce regulations when the contribution-based Social Security Fund Act and New Labour Act have already come to effect.
Meanwhile, the government is making preparation 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.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari has wished for happiness, peace, prosperity and guarantee of labour rights to Nepalis living at home and abroad on the occasion of the International Labour Day.
In a message today, President Bhandari has recalled the crucial contributions of the working class for the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic in Nepal and added that the labourers would benefit from the constitutional provision of making the socialism-oriented economy.
President Bhandari has also expressed the confidence that the International Labour Day would unite all working class people across the world in a thread of unity to ensure their rights and independence.
Likewise, Bhandari has wished for a favorable working environment to all Nepali workers at home and abroad, justifiable remuneration and social security and all other rights for the workers for the establishment of the appropriate industrial relations.
