Leaders of five trade unions have warned lawmakers not to ban trade unions in civil service at a time when the State Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has stood in favour of dissolving party-affiliated trade unions in civil service and allowing civil servants to organise only under an official trade union.

The proposal to ban politically-motivated trade unions in the civil service and to allow government workers to unite only under an umbrella trade union was welcomed by several sections including retired senior bureaucrats.

After a long hiatus, the bill to regulate the formation, operation, and conditions of federal civil service at the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee is under consideration. The restoration of multi-party democracy in Nepal in 1990 opened the space for civil society organisations, including trade unions. The registration of trade unions started in 1993.

Chairpersons of the five different trade unions on Friday issued a statement and warned lawmakers not to act arrogantly against their globally recognised right to open a trade union. They reminded the lawmakers of their contributions to various political changes in Nepal.

Trade union leaders have been urging lawmakers not to ban their organisations within the civil service. The draft of the Federal Civil Service Act, sent by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration for discussion to the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the Parliament, also proposes one official trade union for government employees at the federal and provincial levels. During the ongoing discussion in the House committee, almost all members stood in favour of banning trade unions of government employees.

Members of the State Affairs Committee are passing negative comments to the media on the Federal Civil Service Act Bill currently being deliberated in the House committee, the joint statement issued by five trade unions said.

"This is creating an environment where unnecessary delays are being created on the pretext of controversy, which will prompt the Federal Civil Service Act not to be issued immediately,” said the trade union leaders.

“A serious attention of national-level trade unions has been drawn. We once again remind the government to issue the Federal Civil Service Act immediately.”

Reiterating the role they played in decisive movements for regime change in the past, the unions stressed: "We, the trade unions, remind political parties and the government not to forget the contributions we made during the first people's movement of 2046 BS and the second people's movement of 2062-63 BS by participating in decisive movements for regime change."

On Thursday, in a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, Nepali Congress Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire and UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula said that party-affiliated trade unions should not be allowed during discussion over the proposed Civil service bill.

The organisations have also forwarded some demands to the government related to the guarantee of trade union rights.

At the House committee, almost all lawmakers voiced against the trade unions affiliated to political parties saying that they work like political cadres while drawing salary from the state coffers.

The chief whips and whips of the political parties were of the opinion that only non-gazetted employees should be allowed to join a trade union. Experts on bureaucracy have also suggested that there should be no room for party-aligned trade unions in the upcoming Federal Civil Service Act.

In the past few days, various media outlets have been making statements that discourage, incite, and humiliate civil servants, the joint statement said. “We would also like to warn against such arrogance. The trade unions have demanded that at least section officers/eighth level [gazetted] officers should be allowed to join a registered trade union affiliated to various political parties. They also demanded the establishment of trade unions down to the local level, not only at the federal and provincial levels.”

In the Federal Civil Service Act, the unions have demanded the abolition of the hierarchical system and introduction of a tiered system, and a system for career and professional development of civil servants while reviewing their perks. They also want inter-provincial transfer of local and provincial employees.