Strikes are synonymous with tyre-burning and road-blocking in Nepal. But 56 labourers at Hulas Steel in Bara protested against the management for having failed to agree to a 17-point agreement by donating blood.

Central secretary Ananda Thami of the labourer's union said that he wanted to do something new to gain the attention of the management. Under Thami's leadership previous protest campaigns have included planting flowers in a protest against a pharmaceutical company. Says Thami: "Protesting doesn't mean that you make other people's lives difficult."

The labourers have formulated a code of conduct to make their strike respectable. The rules specify that alcohol consumption, vandalism, traffic blockage as well as other activities are prohibited. The code specifies that the protest must be polite and disciplined and must not involve disturbance of basic services such as electricity, water supply and security-guards at the industry.

This is the first time that production has been stalled due to labourer-prompted protest at Hulas Steel, established by Golchha Industries in 1982.