IndustriALL calls on Bangladesh to uphold commitments

Global rights group IndustriALL Global Union has called on Bangladesh's interim government to uphold the commitments outlined in the roadmap for labour rights reforms ahead of a key discussion at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The ILO Governing Body is set to review today the latest progress report submitted by the Bangladesh government on the implementation of the roadmap, which was developed in response to a 2019 complaint concerning the country's failure to comply with ILO Conventions 81, 87, and 98.
These conventions are related to labour inspection, freedom of association, and the right to organise and collective bargaining.
IndustriALL has raised concerns over the progress report, saying it relies heavily on statistics that do not necessarily indicate substantive improvements in labour rights.
"IndustriALL urges the interim government of Bangladesh to implement all aspects of the roadmap in consultation with IndustriALL affiliates," Atle Høie, general secretary of the rights group, said in a statement on Thursday.
The roadmap prioritises four areas for intervention - labour law reforms, trade union registration, labour inspection and enforcement, and addressing acts of anti-union discrimination/unfair labour practices and violence against workers.
The Bangladesh government is required to report to ILO twice every year on the progress of the work on the four pillars.
IndustriALL said the latest report dated February 17, 2025, mentioned the amendments to the Bangladesh Labour Act would be finalised by March this year.
However, there are doubts over the likelihood of this deadline being met, it said, adding that many of its recommendations have not been considered.
The report also mentioned the 18-point tripartite agreement, which was signed in September last year to address workers' concerns, heralding it as a major achievement.
The IndustriALL affiliates, however, expressed concern that the agreement's implementation has not been uniform across different industrial areas.
Regarding the government's commitment to making the trade union registration process easier, they said contrary to the claims in the report, the offline application system is not parallel to the online one.
After submitting the online application, it is mandatory to submit its hard copy within three days. In case of failure to do so, the online application needs to be resubmitted, they noted.
Furthermore, often the applications take longer to process than the legally mandated 55 days. Citing the report, the statement said from July 2020 to December 2024, some 46,000 individuals, including workers, received training on the registration process.
"But IndustriALL affiliates, which represent more than 80 per cent of the readymade garment workers in the country, remain largely unaware of such training programmes."
According to the report, a total of 15,576 inspections were carried out from July to December last year, which indicates about 85 inspections were carried out every day during the period.
The number of inspections is highly questionable, especially considering the number of labour inspectors available, which is 441 according to the report, and also the kind of work that needs to be done before and after an inspection, said the rights group.
Regarding the action point on eliminating case backlogs in labour courts, IndustriALL affiliates said these courts continue to operate without an adequate number of judges and prosecutors. Besides, it was pointless to establish new courts in areas with fewer factories compared to others in the country.
As for the action point on addressing anti-union discrimination, unfair labour practices, and violence against workers, the affiliates said the government's entire focus appears to be on training programmes, the outcomes of which are not mentioned anywhere in the report.
Moreover, while designing the curriculum of these training programmes, no consultation was done with trade unions, they added.

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