Unilever Nepal -- the manufacturer of Lux and Lifebuoy brands of toilet soaps, and Pepsodent and Close Up toothpastes -- has become the latest victim of industrial unrest in the country, as protesting workers have closed down one of its units in Hetauda.

The Basamadi-based factory of Unilever Nepal was shut down on Sunday after the workers launched a strike, demanding 50 percent hike in salary and allowances, interest free housing loan of Rs 1 million per person and house maintenance fee of Rs 100,000 per person per year.

Protesting workers have, however, said they are “very much flexible” on their demands and would call off the strike if the management expresses commitment to address them in a phase-wise manner.

“We still believe in table talks and this is the only way to settle the dispute,” said Jay Ram Dhital, coordinator of workers´ group formed to hold talks with the management.

The management, on the other hand, is hesitant about accepting the olive branch offered by protesting workers as it says “workers are too rigid on their stance”.

“If they were so considerate, they should have accepted our request to postpone their protest,” Ambar Bahadur Thapa, the factory´s human resources and corporate affairs manager, said.

Protesting workers, however, said they were forced to shut down the factory only after rounds of talks failed to yield any result.

“The management has no right to say we didn´t give it enough time to address our demands. Besides, we followed due process as mentioned in the Labor Act before closing down the factory,” said Dhital, who is also a member of All Nepal Free Industrial Workers Union, one of the two trade unions that launched the protest.

The workers placed their demands before the management in the first week of Nov. Since that time 21 rounds of talks were held between the management and workers. Yet both sides couldn´t come to a negotiating point.

The management said the bone of contention was demand for 21,000-rupee hike in their monthly remunerations, including wages, allowances and other benefits, like bonuses.

“Such a demand was placed when total remuneration of staff was raised by 69 percent between 2009 and 2011, as against rise in company´s profit of 37.3 percent during the period,” Thapa said, without disclosing the figures.

Workers, however, say the figure of Rs 21,000 derived by the management includes remuneration hikes for staff in the management as well. “The 115 of us, who are protesting, are only demanding a rise of around Rs 2,700 in our monthly salaries and allowances,” Dhital claimed. “This amount reaches around Rs 5,200 if other benefits like bonuses are included.”

The management has, however, said it can only offer a hike of Rs 6,600 per month, including wages, allowances and other benefits, on average across the board.

“Besides, we have also promised to insulate each of the staff with Rs 100,000 worth of pension insurance scheme in addition to life insurance of Rs 280,000 bought previously,” Thapa said. On top of this, the company has also pledged interest free housing loan of Rs 150,000 to each worker supplementing Rs 400,000 of similar credit provided last year.

“This is the maximum the management can offer as Unilever workers are highly paid,” Thapa said.

His statement stems from the management´s claims that workers in the factory are one of the best paid in Nepal´s industrial sector with each of them taking home an average of Rs 32,000 per month including wages, allowances and other benefits, like bonuses.

Again, workers begged to differ. “All we get in hand is around Rs 10,500 per month,” Dhital said. “Apart from this, we get bonus equivalent to five months of salary, including Dashain bonus equivalent to one month of salary.”

Published on: 7 February 2012 Republica