Warring unions, employers dig in heels
KATHMANDU, MAR 31
The showdown between trade unions and the private sector is turning into a big affair, with the unions refusing to allow industries to open that are closed for the last six days.
In a bid to press the government, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) met Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and sought his intervention to end the deadlock. Distressed industrialists from Biratnagar and Birgunj are all set to handover the keys of their plants to PM Khanal on Thursday.
A team of around 100 industrialists led by Ashok Temani, president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries, has left for the Capital to handover their industries’ keys and a memorandum to the prime minister. According to Temani, industrialists from other parts of the country including Hetauda, Narayanghat, Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Butwal and Bhairahawa will join them in the meeting with PM Khanal. The delegation will include some 500 industrialists from across the country. “We have nothing to do with trade union politics,” said Temani.
Industrialists from Sunsari and Morang, led by Mahesh Jaju, president of Morang Merchants’ Association, and Dinesh Golchha, president of Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industries, are also coming to Kathmandu for the same purpose. Golchha said they are tired of appealing to the local administration for intervention in the on-going closure. “Now, we do not have any option but to hand over the keys to the government and shut down industries,” he said.
FNCCI President Kush Kumar Joshi said the federation has asked the government to implement the 11-point agreement at the earliest. Joshi said that during the meeting PM Khanal had assured industrialists of solving labour problems after holding talks with political parties whose trade unions are causing indefinite closure of industries. Meanwhile, FNCCI on Wednesday cancelled a meeting with unions affiliated to Madhes-based political parties saying that union leaders approached them without calling off the strike.
Source: Republica
The showdown between trade unions and the private sector is turning into a big affair, with the unions refusing to allow industries to open that are closed for the last six days.
In a bid to press the government, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) met Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and sought his intervention to end the deadlock. Distressed industrialists from Biratnagar and Birgunj are all set to handover the keys of their plants to PM Khanal on Thursday.
A team of around 100 industrialists led by Ashok Temani, president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries, has left for the Capital to handover their industries’ keys and a memorandum to the prime minister. According to Temani, industrialists from other parts of the country including Hetauda, Narayanghat, Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Butwal and Bhairahawa will join them in the meeting with PM Khanal. The delegation will include some 500 industrialists from across the country. “We have nothing to do with trade union politics,” said Temani.
Industrialists from Sunsari and Morang, led by Mahesh Jaju, president of Morang Merchants’ Association, and Dinesh Golchha, president of Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industries, are also coming to Kathmandu for the same purpose. Golchha said they are tired of appealing to the local administration for intervention in the on-going closure. “Now, we do not have any option but to hand over the keys to the government and shut down industries,” he said.
FNCCI President Kush Kumar Joshi said the federation has asked the government to implement the 11-point agreement at the earliest. Joshi said that during the meeting PM Khanal had assured industrialists of solving labour problems after holding talks with political parties whose trade unions are causing indefinite closure of industries. Meanwhile, FNCCI on Wednesday cancelled a meeting with unions affiliated to Madhes-based political parties saying that union leaders approached them without calling off the strike.
Source: Republica
