This year’s May Day was marked amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought immense hardships more to workers than other section of people. So the usual celebratory mood and fanfare was conspicuously missing during the May Day observed on Friday. Owing to the lockdown and social distancing, the gatherings and rallies of workers could not take place. The event was largely confined to the virtual rooms, statements and messages issued on the occasion. Nonetheless, the May Day carries more significance as coronavirus breakout has completely halted business, production and supply chain, leaving thousands of workers unemployed.

Hundreds of daily wage-earners were left high and dry after works at construction and project sites came to a standstill in the country. After they lost their livelihoods and income sources, they were forced to leave Kathmandu in hordes during the lockdown. More pathetic scenes came to haunt the nation, as they endured hunger, thirst and exhaustion while travelling up to 500 kilometres on foot on the east-west highway to reach their home districts. These workers coming from the informal sector most probably knew little about the May Day which has been largely celebrated by the labourers working in the formal sector of economy and business.

The May Day should be meaningful for all workers struggling to live a dignified, prosperous and happy life. Nepali workers have been marking it as a celebration of the 'unity and achievement' over the last couples of years. They commemorated the various labour movements aimed at ending all forms of exploitations and excesses by the employers while seeking to maintain a balance between work, rest, and recreation. In his message, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called upon all sides, including the trade unions, to move ahead together in the present difficult time by correcting any shortcomings and by becoming disciplined. He noted that the government was aware of and serious about resolving the problems faced by the hundreds of thousands of Nepali migrant workers abroad.

It is relevant here to mention the gains made in the labour sector following the formation of the present government more than two years ago. On the back of the trajectory of rapid economic growth, the government had successfully mediated between the industrialists and workers to increase the minimum wages of workers by 39 per cent, the highest increase in the country’s history. Likewise, the government had doubled the budget to the labour sector in its budget unveiled in the second fiscal year. Employment equivalent to 2.2 million workdays had been created in the last two years through the Prime Minister Employment Programme. Similarly, under the new social security scheme, employment equivalent to at least 100 days was guaranteed in a year.

In order to address the problems of daily wage earners involved in the unorganised sectors, the cabinet has recently decided to provide jobs to them in the government offices and the local bodies. Those workers who don’t want to work and only need relief materials should be provided only 25 per cent of the total relief amount. The government deserves kudos for this initiative. However, there is the need for the creation of permanent institutional mechanisms to benefit the working class people in line with the spirit of the May Day.