Workers' welfare committees in EPZs may not appease USTR
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Shamsul Huq Zahid
The cabinet last Monday approved an amendment bill that, when adopted by the parliament, would meet, albeit in a different form, a long-standing demand of the workers employed in the country's export processing zones (EPZs) and one of the key conditions set earlier by the USA for being eligible for the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) facilities.
The amendment bill, styled, the EPZ Workers' Sangha and Industrial Relations (amendment) Bill, 2009 provides for constitution of welfare committees by the workers employed in production units under the EPZs.
The welfare committees as proposed in the bill will not have the power and clout enjoyed by the trade unions (TUs). Yet the committees are expected to play an important role in maintaining a congenial management-workers relationship.
The foreign investors, for obvious reasons, have always been opposed to TU activities inside the EPZs. The government also had accepted the investors' demand. But the absence of organizations authorized by law to make the management aware of the workers' grievances over the years has been taking a heavy toll on investors as well as workers in the EPZs.
The export-oriented apparel units, both within and the outside the EPZs, have been the victims of frequent labour troubles for the last few years. A good number of garment units were burned down or vandalized by angry workers, some of whom died and injured in police actions. Like all the production units inside the EPZs, the workers employed in apparel units outside do not also have their elected TUs.
The owners of garment factories have always blamed some unidentified conspirators for all the troubles. They may have some valid reasons for pointing out the involvement of 'conspirators' who are out to destabilize the Bangladesh garment industry. But the government is yet to make any serious attempt to locate the conspirators and also unearth their evil design.
It is not known whether the welfare committees in the production units of EPZs would be elected ones or not. Since the committees would represent the workers, it is better to have elected bodies.
The government deserves appreciation for taking the move for installing welfare committees. The US government has been pressing Bangladesh for long to introduce TU activities or some other arrangements so that the workers can ventilate their grievances. It had made availability of GSP facilities conditional to the introduction of TU activities in EPZs, set deadlines for complying with its request and, later, extended the same on a number of occasions. Yet the immediate past political government dragged its feet over the issue. With the adoption of the amendment bill in question in the next session of the parliament, the GSP facilities should not be a problem for Bangladesh.
But US ambassador James F Moriarty's recent comments at a function organized by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) indicated troubles for Bangladesh. The ambassador linked the signing of TIFA by Bangladesh to its receiving trade concessions from the US government.
Mr. Moriarty also indicated that the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which plays a decisive role in granting trade concessions, wanted Bangladesh to sign TIFA without any further waste of time. So, it remains to be seen how the USTR reacts to the latest government move to introduce workers' welfare committees in EPZs.
It is not important that the government has finally decided to help the EPZ workers by providing them with an organizational support to vent their grievances just to get trade concessions from the USA. The US may or may not grant concessions. But the fact remains that the welfare committees, if operated properly and in accordance with the laws concerned, would help bring down the incidents of labour unrest in the EPZs to a great extent.
The government and the associations of apparel unit owners should also make joint endeavour to introduce similar mechanism in the garment factories outside the EPZs that are more prone to workers' trouble.
It has been witnessed time and again that trouble originates from garment factories that are irregular in the payment of wages and other benefits to their workers. Unfortunately, such troubles affect many factories that are regular in the payment of wages, overtime and bonuses to their workers and fully compliant with safety measures. The associations concerned have failed to straighten up these rouge owners despite knowing who they are. Trade union or no trade union, troubles would erupt every now and then if such owners continue to deprive the workers of their due.
The cabinet last Monday approved an amendment bill that, when adopted by the parliament, would meet, albeit in a different form, a long-standing demand of the workers employed in the country's export processing zones (EPZs) and one of the key conditions set earlier by the USA for being eligible for the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) facilities.
The amendment bill, styled, the EPZ Workers' Sangha and Industrial Relations (amendment) Bill, 2009 provides for constitution of welfare committees by the workers employed in production units under the EPZs.
The welfare committees as proposed in the bill will not have the power and clout enjoyed by the trade unions (TUs). Yet the committees are expected to play an important role in maintaining a congenial management-workers relationship.
The foreign investors, for obvious reasons, have always been opposed to TU activities inside the EPZs. The government also had accepted the investors' demand. But the absence of organizations authorized by law to make the management aware of the workers' grievances over the years has been taking a heavy toll on investors as well as workers in the EPZs.
The export-oriented apparel units, both within and the outside the EPZs, have been the victims of frequent labour troubles for the last few years. A good number of garment units were burned down or vandalized by angry workers, some of whom died and injured in police actions. Like all the production units inside the EPZs, the workers employed in apparel units outside do not also have their elected TUs.
The owners of garment factories have always blamed some unidentified conspirators for all the troubles. They may have some valid reasons for pointing out the involvement of 'conspirators' who are out to destabilize the Bangladesh garment industry. But the government is yet to make any serious attempt to locate the conspirators and also unearth their evil design.
It is not known whether the welfare committees in the production units of EPZs would be elected ones or not. Since the committees would represent the workers, it is better to have elected bodies.
The government deserves appreciation for taking the move for installing welfare committees. The US government has been pressing Bangladesh for long to introduce TU activities or some other arrangements so that the workers can ventilate their grievances. It had made availability of GSP facilities conditional to the introduction of TU activities in EPZs, set deadlines for complying with its request and, later, extended the same on a number of occasions. Yet the immediate past political government dragged its feet over the issue. With the adoption of the amendment bill in question in the next session of the parliament, the GSP facilities should not be a problem for Bangladesh.
But US ambassador James F Moriarty's recent comments at a function organized by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) indicated troubles for Bangladesh. The ambassador linked the signing of TIFA by Bangladesh to its receiving trade concessions from the US government.
Mr. Moriarty also indicated that the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which plays a decisive role in granting trade concessions, wanted Bangladesh to sign TIFA without any further waste of time. So, it remains to be seen how the USTR reacts to the latest government move to introduce workers' welfare committees in EPZs.
It is not important that the government has finally decided to help the EPZ workers by providing them with an organizational support to vent their grievances just to get trade concessions from the USA. The US may or may not grant concessions. But the fact remains that the welfare committees, if operated properly and in accordance with the laws concerned, would help bring down the incidents of labour unrest in the EPZs to a great extent.
The government and the associations of apparel unit owners should also make joint endeavour to introduce similar mechanism in the garment factories outside the EPZs that are more prone to workers' trouble.
It has been witnessed time and again that trouble originates from garment factories that are irregular in the payment of wages and other benefits to their workers. Unfortunately, such troubles affect many factories that are regular in the payment of wages, overtime and bonuses to their workers and fully compliant with safety measures. The associations concerned have failed to straighten up these rouge owners despite knowing who they are. Trade union or no trade union, troubles would erupt every now and then if such owners continue to deprive the workers of their due.