An understanding to this effect was reached after local industrialists agreed to provide relief packages. [break]"The strike in Hetauda has been deferred. The industries will resume operations from Sunday," said Ganesh Regmi, general secretary of All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) which is close to the Maoists.
The announcement has prompted employers to return to negotiating table and resume talks to end the minimum wage row at the earliest.
The talks had stalled on Friday as Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) walked away from negotiating table after the local labor union refused to defer strike even while big three trade unions agreed to withhold all protests programs across the country.
FNCCI had placed resumption of industrial operations in Hetauda and other manufacturing hubs as its condition to resume talks.
"We are glad that the trade unions instructed their members to withdraw all forms of protest and adhere to the agreement they signed on Thursday," said FNCCI President Kush Kumar Joshi.
"If the local labor unions complied sincerely, we will resume talks within 24 hours," he told Republica. ANTUF along with pro-CPN (UML) General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GFONT) and pro-Congress Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) had announced various protest programs, including nationwide showdown, demanding increase in minimum wage from Rs 4,600 to Rs 10,000 a month. They had agreed to defer the strike after FNCCI Employers Council on Thursday agreed to reach an understanding by March 14.
Prior to Friday´s debacle, trade unions had agreed to downscale their demand to 60 percent hike during the negotiations. FNCCI too had jacked up its offer to 23.7 percent pay hike.
"The deadline by which FNCCI has committed to finalize the new minimum wage is fast approaching. Now that their demand has been fulfilled, we hope to hear from them soon," said Ramesh Badal, one of the negotiators from GFONT.
Badal elaborated that the joint meeting of the three trade unions on Saturday has already called the FNCCI to return to the negotiating table, citing that they were open for further talks without exerting any pressure on the employers.
"Now if the FNCCI did not act promptly and no understanding is reached by March 14, we will launch nationwide industrial strike from March 15," he said.
Related story
Chaos, united
-1779842101.webp)
