Speakers at a meeting Wednesday strongly emphasised on taking free legal aid services to the doorsteps of country's workers, especially in the readymade garment (RMG) sector.
They also suggested creation of awareness among the workers and the mid-level employees on a large scale about workers' rights, facilitating them to work together to take the industry forward.
Labour Legal Aid Cell (LLAC), a recently-formed agency under the National Legal Aid Services Organisation (NLASO) of the Law Ministry, arranged the views exchange meeting at the Shrama Bhaban in the city to find what steps should be taken to make the cell more effective and worker-friendly.
NLASO director Syed Aminul Islam, was the chief guest at the meeting, which was attended, among others, by First Labour Court in Dhaka chairman Miah Md Sharif Hossain, Labour Court Bar Association (LCBA) president Advocate Chowdhury Sarowar Ali, LCBA general secretary Advocate Belayet Hossain, LLAC Law Officer Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury, leaders of different worker associations, factory inspectors and other lawyers of the labour courts.
The speakers suggested the cell to arrange awareness programmes at each of the RMG industrial zones including Tongi, Gazipur, Savar and Narayanganj.
They also recommended taking effective measures to hang signboards about its free services on all factory premises.
Other suggestions, put forward by the speakers, include: advertisements through the radio, television and newspapers and giving SMS text messages to the workers' cell-phones, arranging motivational programmes and accelerating of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system in resolving owner-worker disputes.
Mr Islam in a presentation highlighted the background and chronology in establishing the cell, and its ongoing activities. He said the cell is now operating on trial basis under NLASO. After consultation with the stakeholders, the cell will be turned into an office with separate budget and manpower.
The labour legal aid cell provides free legal aid services to the workers. The services include: legal suggestions, sending grievance notices to the owners on behalf of the workers, appointing lawyers to conduct cases if necessary and instant suggestion services over hotline phone-number etc.
In his presentation, Mr Islam said that a total of 145 workers including 19 female ones received services from the cell from May 2, 2013, when the cell started its activities, to January, 2014.
During the time, the cell sent 80 grievance notices on behalf of the workers, 25 of whom are female; 15 disputes were settled and 17 cases were filed with the labour courts. And a total of 704 workers including 127 females took hotline cell-phone services from September, 2013 to January, 2014, he said.
The cell is going to set up two "mobile legal aid clinics" in Savar and Gazipur to take the legal aid services to the doorsteps of the workers, Mr Islam said.
He added that they will arrange more such meetings on a large scale, and consider the recommendations in order to make the cell more effective to ensure the workers' rights.
