Govt eases TU activities despite warnings by factory owners

FE ReportbrThe caretaker government Sunday conditionally eased trade union activities across the country, allowing labour groups to hold rallies indoors with a maximum crowd of five hundred people, a home ministry order said.brUnions in factories, commercial organisations and ports have also been allowed to hold elections for collective bargaining agents (CBA), provided they secure prior permission from police commissioners or district magistrates.brBut the bars on discussing political events or holding mass rallies in open spaces, or airing union programmes live on television would remain in line with the Emergency Powers Rules (EPR).brThe government banned trade union activities and froze CBA polls under EPR just weeks after it took power in January last year, following months of political violence and series of strikes in ports and factories.brThe order -- made effective from Sunday -- came more than a month after the labour and local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal promised relaxing trade union activities in the face of demands from local and international labour groups.brThe United States Trade Representative (USTR) and a top US labour group have urged the government to lift the restrictions both in the country's export processing zones and outside.brThey have threatened to cut off some duty facilities to Bangladeshi exports unless the curbs are lifted. brThe easing came as the country's main industrial sector, ready-made garment, was in the grip of violent labour unrest, which in the last eight months saw more than 151 factories vandalised and properties worth billions damaged.brGarment manufacturers of key industrial area, Gazipur, on Saturday threatened to close their factories unless the government ensures full security at their workplaces by September 25. brBangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez welcomed the move conditionally, saying he hoped the unions would play constructive roles.brIf the unions play healthy roles, it's good for the organisation and the factory. But unfortunately very often these unions become politicised, which greatly affects productivity and business climate, brLeader of knitwear manufacturers Md. Fazlul Hoque said the unions should act responsibly so that they could present a new image of Bangladeshi labour to the outside world. brThe onus is now on the unions, including the ones in the ports, to prove that they can act with responsibility. Future of the country's trade and business partly depends on their actions, he said. brLabour groups, however, said the conditional easing of restrictions would not help cool down the volatile labour situation.brTrade unions cannot function under conditionalities, said Shamima Nasrin, head of Swadhin Bangla Garments Federation, a so-called independent union for garment and textile workers.br The government should allow the unions to function properly across the country and implements total labour rights in the garment factories, which will help end violent protests in the garments sector, she said.brTrade union activities --- except labour involvement in factory welfare -- are banned in the country's more than 4,500 garment factories.brUnions who operate outside the factories blame absence of CBAs as the main reason for the recent unregulated and violent protests at the garment sector.br