KATHMANDU: Workers across the globe including Nepal are observing 130th International May Day with the slogan ‘Sustainable Pension for all: The Role of Social Partners’ to celebrate the rights they earned through different international labor movements on Wednesday.

The day commemorates the 1886 protest in Chicago by workers demanding ‘eight hours labor, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest. Following the riots in Chicago, labor protests spread across France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Finally, the countries were forced to fulfill the demands raised by the workers.

Nepal started celebrating May Day following the establishment of democracy in 2007 BS. The Day is celebrated in joint coordination with Government of Nepal, non-profit organizations, trade union, and private sectors.

International Labor Organization (ILO), in a report, states that there are more than 3.44 billion workers around the globe. Internationally, there has been a trend of workers moving to other countries for jobs. Nepal follows the suit with the government estimating that around 1.4 million Nepalis leave the country annually for foreign jobs.

A report by ILO states that over 30 million workers from the South Asian region head to Gulf and other countries for foreign employment. Nepali workers have reached Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, and Myanmar through India for foreign jobs.

Some decades ago, Assam, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Tibet were the major lucrative destinations for Nepali workers. In recent years, the flow of Nepali workers has shifted to the Gulf, Malaysia, Europe, Africa, and the USA.

Two million daily wage earners in the internal market

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, some seven million Nepalis are employed. Among them, some two million are daily wage earners.

The government has been working hard to address the plight of workers in Nepal. The government unveiled the Labor Act and Labor Regulations 2074 BS with the aim of ensuring social security to all workers, end labor exploitation and respectable remunerations among others. The Ministry for Labor and Social Security has worked to ensure minimum wage to workers, facilities of pension and gratuity through Social Security Fund, unemployment allowance among others.

Despite, government efforts things are yet to change with many workers still not getting minimum wages fixed by the government and facing labor exploitation.

4.4 million Nepalis works in foreign lands

According to the National Planning Commission (NPC), over 500,000 workforces enter Nepali labor market annually in search of jobs and out of them, only 150,000 are getting jobs in the internal labor market. Remaining job-aspirants are forced to desert the country for jobs in foreign lands.

Records maintained by the government body states that some 600,000 leave Nepal for foreign employment. Some 4.4 million youths have left the country for foreign jobs from fiscal year 2063/64 BS to 2075/76 with no records available for previous years. The remittance’s contribution  to the total gross domestic product of Nepal stands at 29 percent.