The Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Labour and Employment Ministry has underlined appellate tribunal should be designed like the administrative appellate tribunal to put an end to the harassment faced by workers when it comes to settlement of disputes.

Lawmaker Md. Mojibul Haque, reportedly, maintained this while speaking at a virtual dialogue on ‘Building the RMG Sector in Adherence with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs)’, being organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in partnership with the Christian Aid in Bangladesh, even as he, reportedly, added when a verdict goes in favour of workers at the labour court, many factory owners appeal against it with the tribunal and it takes a lot of time and money for workers to have the appeal settled although in most cases, the disputed amount varies between Taka 60,000 and Taka 1 lakh, Md. Mojibul Haque claimed, adding as a result, the verdict is delayed and workers lose interest in fighting the case.

“…if the labour appellate tribunal acts like the administrative tribunal, workers will get the judgement within a stipulated time…,” reportedly, maintained the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Labour and Employment Ministry while adding that it will be helpful for the workers while underlining that there were many loopholes in the labour law and that the ministry will take initiative to amend the labour law again even as Labour Secretary Md. Ehsan-E-Elahi, on his part, said Bangladesh was going to ratify the 138 Convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to determine the minimum age of workers.

Amongst others, the event was, reportedly, attended by BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, First Vice-President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem and BGMEA Director Vidiya Amrit Khan.