What comes as a pleasant surprise is that Bangladesh Government has decided to ease regulations for the formation of trade unions at garment factories.
Under the revised regulations, now, a trade union can be formed with consent of 20 per cent of the workers of a factory, which was previously at 30 per cent – a provision which was under criticism of the rights organisations.
The decision was taken recently, State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque said at a discussion in Dhaka on May 15, 2018. “Our Government has pledged to work for the rights of the workers at factories. We will also introduce online registration of trade unions to make the process of registration more transparent,” he said.
The Minister was speaking at a dialogue on “emerging labour standard demand in view of Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and SDG implementation” at the Khazana Gardenia Hotel, organised by independent think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), on 15 May 2018.
Currently, there are 8,064 registered trade unions in Bangladesh, 659 in the garment sector alone. Back in 2012, when the issue of lack of trade unions surfaced following the fire at Tazreen Fashions, the number of trade unions stood at 132.
“Before the Rana Plaza collapse, labour issues were discussed in a hushed and defensive attitude. Bangladesh has become more proactive, candid and open to this discussion. This is a major progress,” said Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at CPD.
Siddiqur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA said that the apparel makers are also aware of labour rights and the industry is working towards creating a labour-friendly environment.
