Labour issues are likely to take centre stage at the upcoming Dhaka-Washington talks on matters of advancing the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA).
The seventh edition of the council is scheduled to convene in mid-September, just a few months before the next national elections in Bangladesh.
Over the past couple of months, the United States has been vocal about Bangladesh's democratic process, human rights and labour issues.
In mid-June of this year, a delegation of US administration officials, led by Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, visited Bangladesh discussing a gamut of affairs that prominently covered democracy and labour rights.
In late June, the US Department of Labor (USDOL) condemned the murder of Bangladeshi labour leader Shahidul Islam and called for a proper investigation.
"@USDOL condemns the murder of Shahidul Islam, a union organiser from the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation. We call for a thorough and independent investigation and for the protection and advancement of union leaders' human and labour rights," the DoL wrote in a tweet.
Following the US government's concerns, police arrested some individuals in July who were allegedly involved in the murder of the labour leader in Gazipur.
According to commerce ministry officials, the US has forwarded a draft agenda for the two-day TICFA meeting, which is set to be held in Dhaka from September 11.
The agenda include five separate labour-related issues: anti-union/anti-worker violence, anti-union discrimination, other unfair labour practices, labour-law reform (including amendments to the Bangladesh Labor Act) and labour rights in Special Economic Zones and Export Processing Zones.
Besides, the US side intends to discuss impediments to trade-union registration, labour inspections and enforcement, among others.
Law Minister Anisul Huq in November last year told the 346th session of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that the amendment of the Bangladesh Labour Law would be completed by mid-2023 and the amended law would also be applied to all industrial zones in the country.
In October last year, the government amended the Bangladesh Labour Rules, which labour leaders said went against the interests of workers and curtailed their rights in some cases.
Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garments Workers Federation (NGWF), previously told the FE that while it is true that the number of trade unions in the garment sector increased manifold after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, the labour directorate still takes a huge amount of time to give approval for setting up of trade unions.
"The initiatives taken after the Rana Plaza collapse are not enough," he said, adding that at least 1,700 more small and medium-scale factories remained outside the remediation and monitoring efforts of Accord and Alliance, indicating significant gaps in workplace safety.
Amin further said that all factories need to be safe and secure, and the workers' rights to organise, bargain and protest must be ensured without any obstacles.
Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the local think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), thinks there is ample scope for the government to do more in terms of allowing trade unions in the factories.
"So far, no trade union was allowed inside the factories in the export- processing zones, though the government is claiming there are worker-welfare committees there," he said, adding that these bodies do not actually enjoy the facilities and rights of trade unions.
Mr Moazzem pointed out that it is not clear how much importance Bangladesh is giving to the TICFA mechanism, but the US is using it as a significant instrument for discussing trade and investment. In the future, it could be further escalated.
"Not only the labour issue, the US is also adding ICT, Agricultural, and WTO etc in the agenda," he said.
He mentions that labour rights are receiving top priority in this year's TICFA meeting, and the depth of the issue is increasing. "Now the US is bringing forward the harassment and various other dimensions related to labour rights intensively."
According to Mr Moazzem, the government needs to prioritise the resolution of pending issues.
The other issues the US side will raise for discussion include delays in profit repatriation, non-payment to US companies, draft data protection act, draft regulation for digital, social media, OTT Platforms, counterfeit goods, amendment of intellectual property rights act, copyright act amendments, industrial designs act, patent bill and implementing regulations, and IPR Enforcement (Import and Export) Rules.
Also, the US side will discuss issues like agricultural biotechnology dialogue, amendments to the seed-act rules, and customs valuation.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh side will again raise the issue of duty-free market access to the US as the main issue of discussion, officials said.
They said the host side for the meet has yet to make a total list of issues to be raised at the meeting. On Wednesday, the WTO Wing of the Ministry of Commerce sought written proposals from concerned ministries, departments and other stakeholders for raising at the TICFA meet.
Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.
syful-islam@outlook.com