Misunderstanding between owners, workers hampers TU formation: Chunnu

State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu said Tuesday that misunderstanding between owners and workers hampers formation of trade unions.
"The factory owners think that they would face problems due to the formation of trade unions in their factories. And the labour leaders think that they will be empowered by the trade union," Chunnu said.
They have no idea about trade union. The main objective of trade union is to create good relationship between factory owners and workers, he added.
The state minister came up with the observation while addressing a seminar on "Occupational Health and Safety (OHS): Impact 99 per cent-Together We Can Change" at a city hotel.
The German Development Cooperation GIZ and Western Marine Shipyard jointly organised the seminar. Additional Director General (Planning) of DGHS Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad was in the chair.
Chunnu addressed the seminar as chief guest while labour secretary Mikail Shiper and shipping secretary M Syed Monjurul Islam were present as special guests.
The seminar was also attended by Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Hanne Fugl Eskjaer, principal adviser (health sector) of GIZ, Paul Rueckert.
The state minister unveiled a publication titled "Healthy business, healthy workers, healthy communities."
The Western Marine Shipyard has been able to reduce 99 per cent injury rates in its factory through ensuring occupational health and safety measures in its shipyard.
For the successful implementation of occupational health and safety, the Western Marine has been awarded OHSAS 18001 status.
The government of Bangladesh has already amended the Labour Act 2006 for 21 times, Chunnu said.
The occupational health and safety of workers at workplace has been ensured under sections 5, 6 and 7 of the amended Labour Act, he added.
"There will be no need for any law if good relation between factory owners and workers is established," the state minister said.
To ensure occupational health and safety, there is need to increase awareness between owners and workers, Chunnu noted.
The State Minister said, "We are only talking about the occupation and health safety (OHS) of workers of readymade garment and shipbuilding industry. But we do not consider the OHS of workers of other sectors like agriculture, housemaids, motor and welding sector".
The OHS for other sectors' workers needs to be addressed, he pointed out.
What happened at Western Marine leaves important lessons for garment factories, global retailers, Bangladesh garment and aid agencies as they strive to make garment factories safer, Chunnu said. Shipping secretary M Syed Monjurul Islam said ensuring occupational health and safety of workers at workplaces is urgent for the country to become a middle-income country through robust growth of industrial sector.
The Western Marine Shipyard Chairman Md. Saiful Islam, told the audience: "Having been certified with an international standard in occupational health and safety allowed us to secure more ship building orders from New Zealand and Kenya".
Managing Director of WMS Sakhawat Hossain stressed that healthier workers also mean more productive workers. "We say: if you think training and safety is expensive, try an accident. We avoid accidents by spending money on training and safety," he said.
Mikail Shipar, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment said, "Necessary action needs to be taken to ensure and enable appropriate collaborative links between occupational health and other associated activities, such as occupational safety, environmental health, environmental protection, primary and specialized health services, and social security."