IndustriALL Global Union has urged the Bangladeshi Government to take the implementation of labour roadmap seriously as the administration has not been upholding the spirit of the process.
The Worldwide Workers Federation claimed that there were glaring gaps in the most recent official report that the Government had sent to the International Labour Organization detailing the steps it had made to ensure workers’ rights and workplace safety in the nation.
Furthermore, IndustriALL stated in a statement released on 27th February that the Government report deviates from the goals of the strategy. The announcement was released by the worldwide platform in advance of the ILO’s governing committee meeting, which is set for next month.
To address all of the unresolved issues raised in the Article 26 complaint, the Government of Bangladesh filed a roadmap in May 2021. Since then, Bangladesh has been providing the ILO regulatory body with progress reports on the roadmap’s execution twice a year.
Reforming labour laws, registering unions, conducting labour inspections and enforcement, and addressing instances of anti-union discrimination, unfair labour practices, and violence against employees are the four areas of intervention that the roadmap prioritises.
In 2019, several labour organisations filed a complaint with the International Labour Conference regarding Bangladesh’s non-compliance with Conventions 81, 87, and 98, by Article 26 of the ILO Constitution.
In response to the complaint, the ILO regulatory body asked Bangladesh to create a timeline-bound action plan with specific goals to resolve the issues raised.
Referring to newspaper reports, the global rights platform said that Bangladesh’s president had withheld assent to the amended labour law bill as it raised the fine for workers to Taka 20,000, but the penalty for employers which was Taka 5,000 remained unchanged in the context of strike or lockout.
This provision results in blatant discrimination against workers and trade unions, the statement said.
‘The Bangladesh Government report does not mention any of this and instead mentions that sensitization seminars were conducted for Industrial Police,’ the statement read.
IndustriALL called on the Government of Bangladesh to engage in good-faith discussions with IndustriALL’s affiliates and other trade unions and seriously implement the roadmap.
