Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed, Executive Editor, The New York Times, Bangladesh National Section:
Local and international rights groups like International Labour Organisation (ILO), the European Union and the United States have continued in putting pressure on the government for reviewing the labour law. As a result, the cabinet on 3 September 2018 approved in principle the draft of Bangladesh Labour Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 with more facilities for workers. The draft law also reduces the workers’ threshold to 20 per cent from the existing 30 per cent for forming trade unions. Under the proposed law, the percentage of workers’ participation required for forming trade unions at factories will be reduced to 20 per cent from the existing 30 per cent. Under the proposed law, no child will be allowed to work in factories. If anybody employs child workers then he or she will have to pay a fine of Tk 5,000. In the draft bill, the punishment of workers for violating laws has been reduced by 50 per cent while new facilities included for them. Under the draft law, the inspection for factories and establishment department has been upgraded to the level of directorate. Under the proposed law, the post of the chief inspector of the department is now inspector general, while deputy director general is additional inspector general, and the post of labour director has been upgraded to the rank of director general. As stipulated under the proposed law, mentally and physically-challenged labourers cannot be employed in any risky works. According to section 47 of the draft, if any female worker gives birth to a baby before informing the authorities, she will get an 8-week leave within 3 days after informing the authorities. If the factory authorities do not allow her to go on leave, they will be fined Tk 25,000.Besides, if any worker does his or her duty during festival, he or she will get a two-day leave and wage for two days after the festival. Both owners and workers will be sentenced to one year jail with a fine of Tk 10,000 for misconduct, which was two years in the previous law. Section-195 of the draft law will be applicable for factory owners and section-196 for labourers and workers. In the draft law, the punishment for enforcing strike illegally has been reduced to six months from one year. In case of natural death, the family of the worker concerned will get Tk 200,000 as compensation, which was Tk100,000 in the previous law, and in the case of injury, they will get Tk 250,000, which is now Tk 125,000.
It has been claimed by the cabinet members that the draft bill was prepared and updated following the observation of the ILO and as a result they expect that the amended law would be a labour-friendly (Prothom Alo Report, dated 3 September 2018).
However, despite all that mentioned above, the International Labor Organisation (ILO) expressed its dissatisfaction over the proposal to amend the Labour (Law placed by the government of Bangladesh in Amendment to labour law inadequate: ILO, 10 February, 2018). ILO Convention 138 is the Minimum Age Convention 1973. The main objective of the convention is the elimination of child labour and protection of children by providing minimum age for admission to employment or work. At a discussion, Ratify ILO C138 and C139: Eliminate WFCL, organized by the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) on 24 July 2018, Dr Mohammad Nazuzzaman Bhuian, a professor with the Department of Law at Dhaka University, presented the findings of a survey. He pointed out that the National Child Labour Survey of 2013 estimated 3.45 million working children aged 5-17, of whom 1.70 million were between the ages of 5 and 11. He raised the point that the government is aware of this issue, and that the laws are being implemented but need to be ratified in order to be more effective. The government has so far ratified 33 conventions related to labour issues. The issue has also been addressed in various plans and policies and laws at different times including the Children Act, 2013, the Labour Act, 2006, the National Child Labour Elimination Policy (CLEP) 2010. To implement this policy, a five-year National Plan of Action was adopted in April 2013.
As mentioned in the ILO report of this year, ILO committee regretted that the proposed amendments do not respond to its longstanding concerns and notes with concern that the minor reduction in the minimum membership requirements proposed by the government is not likely to have an impact on a large number of enterprises and thus would not, in any meaningful manner, contribute to the free establishment of workers’ organizations. During that time, the committee also proposed to the government to make several reforms to the labour law in Bangladesh in order to ensure workers’ freedom of association. Their recommendation included further reducing the threshold of minimum workers number and simplifying the registration of process of trade unions.
The Committee of Experts also advocated for Bangladesh government to continue to take the necessary measures to review sections 179(2) and 179 (5) of the BLA without delay, in consultation with the social partners, with a view to reducing the excessive 30 percent threshold necessary for forming a union and maintaining its registration. The Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of ILO published its annual report on the application of standards, which had set a series of recommendations for Bangladesh and its member countries to improve labor standards. The committee also stressed on simplification of the re-registration process. The committee found that the number of rejected applications for registration remains high, and that a substantial proportion of rejections come without explanation. The committee requested the government to continue to take all necessary measures to ensure that registration is a simple, objective and transparent process, which does not restrict the right of workers to establish organizations without previous authorisation. The committee called upon the government of Bangladesh to bring the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, Bangladesh Labour Rules and draft EPZ Labour Act into conformity with the provisions of the convention regarding freedom of association. It also urged the government to ensure the reinstatement of Ashulia area workers who were illegally dismissed following demonstrations demanding wage hike in December 2016. The Committee expressed deep concern at the continued violence and intimidation of workers and emphasized in this regard that a truly free and independent trade union movement can only develop in a climate free from violence, pressure and threats of any kind against the leaders and members of such organizations. The Committee urged the Government to provide information on the remaining specific allegations of violence and intimidation, including to report on prosecutions initiated, convictions obtained, and criminal sanctions imposed for any past incidents, and to take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future and ensure that, if they occur, they are properly investigated. The expert committee observed that the labour directorate retains discretionary power to refuse registration and the rejection of applications for the registration of trade unions increased in the year of 2017. It showed that a mere 36 per cent of applications for registration submitted through the online registration system (291 out of 801) were accepted, whereas the status of the remaining 64 per cent was unclear. The report also stated that more than a third of the applications for registration available in the database on registration (62 out of 191) were marked as rejected without a clear indication as to the reasons.
The ILO committee also recommended the government to continue to provide updated statistics to the ILO on the overall number of applications for registration received, and to clarify the status of the 509 applications submitted through the online system, which were not granted.
We do not have a copy of Bangladesh Labour Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and hence it is not possible to comment whether the recommendations have been adequately reflected in the bill or not. However, we hope that this government has paid due consideration to each and every detail of the report of the experts who advocated for having a labour-friendly law in Bangladesh.
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