Ministry follows up concerns of labour representatives

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been urged to form an inquiry commission against the government of Bangladesh over 'non-observance' of top ILO conventions relating to workers' rights, officials have said.
Labour representatives from Italy, Japan, South Africa, Pakistan and Brazil in the 108th session of the ILO conference in mid-June made the plea in a written submission which the ILO headquarters recently forwarded to the government of Bangladesh, they added.
They alleged that Bangladesh ratified the ILO convention number 87 on freedom of association and right to organise, convention number 98 on the right to organise and to bargain collectively, and convention no. 81 on labour inspection in June 1972.
Some 47 years have passed since then, but the conventions are not followed properly in Bangladesh and the incidents of violation of workers' rights are very common in the country, they said.
"There is no question that workers in Bangladesh face extraordinary obstacles to the exercise of their right to freedom of association, to organise and to bargain collectively," they wrote in the letter to ILO director general Guy Ryder.
They also wrote that despite repeated calls the government continuously failed to bring its labour laws, including the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA) and the EPZ Labour Act anywhere close to compliance with the conventions.
Anti-union discrimination, including violence, threats and dismissal, with near total impunity persisted, the noted.
"Even when workers overcome these obstacles, the government routinely refuses to register unions to allow them to carry out their activities legally. And, where union exists, collective bargaining remains rare due to employer's refusal to bargain in good faith," mentioned the letter.
They also said the government amended the BLA in October 2018 but again "squandered" the opportunity to address the vast majority of concerns related to freedom of association and collective bargaining, leaving most of the expert committees' observations unaddressed.
The amendment reduced the requirement of the minimum number of workers to establish a union at a factory from 30 per cent to 20 per cent of workforce, they wrote.
"As a practical matter, particularly in large factories, it is difficult to imagine how several hundred workers could be organised and convened for a founding meeting as required by the law in order to apply for and obtain registration," they noted.
They also alleged an arbitrary refusal to register trade unions in Bangladesh. Between 2010 and 2018 the department of labour rejected 46 per cent union registration applications, they said.
An anti-union discrimination is a commonplace in Bangladesh, the labour leaders alleged and described the increased number of incidents of violence and job dismissal against those especially who try to be united.
They also mentioned denial of fundamental rights of workers in the factories inside the export processing zones (EPZs).
The Ministry of Labour and Employment recently convened a meeting to discuss the development. The meeting was attended by representatives from law, foreign affairs, commerce and home affairs ministries and Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, and Labour Directorate.
Labour secretary K M Ali Azam could not be reached for his comment on this issue despite several attempts.
However, a senior official who attended the meeting told the FE the meeting decided to take necessary steps to address the concerns mentioned in the letter.
He acknowledged that labour rights situation in Bangladesh was not of international standard.
"The factory owners need to be more accommodative to comply with the ILO conventions for their own sake," he said.
[email protected]