President of the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) Laxman Bahadur Basnet has said that an agreement has been reached between the trade union representatives, government and industrialists to ratify the ILO Convention.

If ratified, the convention ensures association of labourers, prohibits forcing labourers to work against their will and guarantees social security of the labourers.

Addressing the 14th Asian Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) being held in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Basnet said establishing a single trade union federation in the interest of the labourers was the major issue for trade unions in Nepal, reports the state run news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

Stating that the labourers played an important role in making the people’s movement decisive, Basnet said eight of the 25 people who attained martyrdom in the movement were labourers.