Labour leaders express concern over proposed labour law draft

Labour leaders at a roundtable expressed deep concern over some provisions of the proposed draft of the labour law, including those on compensation, definition of workers and maternity benefits.
Terming the proposed amendment owner-friendly they said it did not protect the rights of workers as demanded.
They also alleged that fear of losing jobs is one of the major barriers in forming trade union.
The observations were made at a roundtable, organised by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) in the city on Sunday.
BILS vice chairman Mujibur Rahman Bhuiyan presided over the roundtable.
Workers' Safety Forum convenor Hamida Hossain, BILS advisory council members Shahidullah Chowdhury, Abdus Salam Khan and Mejbahuddin Ahmed, and vice chairman Anwar Hossain, International Labour Organizaiton (ILO) deputy director Gagan Rajbhandari and Sultan Uddin Ahmed of ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV), among others, spoke on the occasion.
The labour leaders alleged that proposed draft of the amended labour law did not cover all sects of workers, including domestic workers and workers of Export Processing Zones (EPZs).
Expressing concern, they said the proposed amendment has deducted the words 'maternity leave with pay', which will deprive the pregnant female workers of financial benefit and leave with pay.
Moreover, the long-raised demand to increase the maternity leave to six months is also not included in it, they added.
Compensation has been proposed only at the rate of Tk 0.2 million and 0.25 million for the deceased workers and the workers who become permanently disabled in workplace accidents respectively, they said, demanding compensation in line with the ILO convention.
The proposed 20 percent workers' representation for forming trade union has not been made in line with the ILO convention, they mentioned.
The industry owners keep their workers under close monitoring once they are informed that the workers are engaged in formation of unions. The workers' fear to lose jobs is one of the major barriers in trade union formation and activities, they alleged.
Mr Rajbhandhari said the government submitted the draft labour law to ILO expert committee, and its members recommended further amendments mentioning specific areas.
The roundtable was informed that although Tripartite Consultative Committee on labour law amendment did not agree with all the proposals, signatures of the participants were shown as all have agreed.
Mr Chowdhury said the workers' demands were not duly realised due to absence of labour movements.
Since the independence, many things have changed, except the livelihood of workers. They still have to work for long 12 to 16 hours to live from hand to mouth, he added.
Ms Hossain suggested moves for informing the workers about the proposed amendments, and also called the trade unions concerned to shoulder the responsibility.

[email protected]