No headway in minimum pay hike talks

The tripartite negotiation among government, employers and employees on minimum salary of workers is not making any headway as both employees and employers continue to stick to their stance.
´Employees are not ready to compromise on their demand for minimum monthly wage of Rs 12,400, while employers are for increasing pay based on inflation and consumer market price,” a government official involved in the negotiation told Republica.
Pashupati Murarka, vice president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said employers were not in a position to double the existing minimum monthly pay of Rs 6,200. ´We are ready to increase the minimum wage by around 18 percent which would be a genuine increment based on calculation of inflation over the past two years,´ Murarka told Republica on Friday evening.
Representatives of employers" organization and trade unions are holding series of negotiation meetings in the presence of government officials since one month.
Eleven trade unions affiliated to different political parties have been pushing for doubling the existing minimum wage.
“The trade union representatives are showing no sign of compromise,” the official said.
The negotiation meeting held on Friday concluded without any progress as both the parties - employers and employees - denied to budge from their stance.
´We are ready to increase minimum wage as per the market situation,´ Murarka said. ´The trade union leaders should understand the existing gloom in the industrial sector.”
Meanwhile, representatives of both the employers and employees have raised the issue of social security for workers. ´But both the employers and employees have their own demands on it as well,” Kewal Prasad Bhandari, executive director of the Social Security Fund (SSF), said.
Highlighting the importance of social security schemes for decent labor market, Bhandari said both the employers and employees should understand each other. “Doubling of minimum wage might have negative effects in the economy as only around 300,000 workers will be benefited from the pay hike,´ Bhandari said. ´This increment will pull the inflation up and other people working in the informal sector will suffer.´
The industrial sector of the country is already reeling under power shortage. Bhandari said minimum wage should be raised based on level of productivity of industrial enterprises.
´The ongoing negotiation should conclude with an understanding to establish a more scientific system of increasing minimum wage every two years,´ added Bhandari
Two years ago, employers, trade unions and government officials had agreed to fix minimum monthly remuneration of worker at Rs 6200, including allowance of Rs 2,650, and daily wage at Rs 231.