The government recently decided to allow labour inspection in conformity with the labour law in factories located in Bangladesh's eight export processing zones (EPZs) to ensure workers rights, officials said.
The workers' representation requirement for trade union registration is also set to be reduced to 20 per cent from the existing 30 per cent for factories both in and outside the EPZs, they added.
The move came to meet International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s recommendation that included bringing the draft of Export Processing Zones Labour Act in line with the ILO conventions to provide equal rights of freedom of association to all workers and bring the EPZs within the purview of the labour inspectorate.
The government is currently working for further amendment of the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA) as well as to improve the draft EPZ Labour Act, State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu said on Tuesday.
"We recently decided to incorporate the provisions for labour inspection in the EPZs by the Inspector General along with other Inspectors under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 with the existing robust inspection system of BEPZA," he added.
Currently, inspection in EPZ factories is carried out by BEPZA. Once amended, the EPZ Labour Act will allow inspection by Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) inspectors.
Chunnu said "After a wide range of consultations with all stakeholders, the government has also decided to reduce the worker representation requirement to form trade union to 20 per cent."
The threshold in EPZs will also be 20 per cent, he added.
In the existing BLA, 2006 the minimum support of 30 per cent of workers is required to form a trade union in all industries, he mentioned.
When contacted, welcoming the government's move Amirul Haque Amin, President of National Garment Workers Federation, said not only labour inspection but also workers' rights to organise and collective bargaining must be allowed fully both in EPZs and the proposed Special Economic Zones in line with the ILO's Convention 87 and 98.
The other lawful benefits like service benefit and termination benefit must also be ensured for workers in all factories, he said requesting the government for further review of its decision of reducing the threshold to 10 per cent.
An ILO expert committee in February last again suggested government to repeal or substantially amend the provisions to ensure the compatibility of the draft EPZ Labour Act with the ILO convention 87 and 98.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the draft EPZ Labour Act that the government sent to the ILO in November last year, the committee said that many changes requested by the ILO were still not addressed by the proposed amendments.
At present there are 474 different kinds of factories in eight EPZs in the country with nearly 0.5 million workers.
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