In view of Nepal's government increasing salaries of civil servants, the affiliated All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) has sought a 100% increase in the worker allowance and 40% hike in basic salary .
President of the Garment Association of Nepal (GAN), Prasanta Pokharel also confirmed that the association has received demands for increased salary on a part with civil servants who have recently enjoyed a 4-6% raise.
ANTUF official said that if their demands were not met, their union will announce a struggle program within 10 days. But the industrialists are responding to the situation by saying that they are not compelled to increase the pay and allowances, since they had increased the salaries just before nine months.
Acting president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Suraj Vaidya said the additional increments in salary will force industries to close down as they are already operating below capacity at present. Number of employees in the garment sector has shrunk to 30,000 from 50,000 and that of workforce in carpet sector has dropped down from 300,000 to 50,000 as these industries are unable to compete in the international market.
