Govt to revise trade union rules requiring minimum 50 workers

Highlights:

• Union formation thresholds now depend on factory size.
• Maximum unions per factory increased from three to five.
• Factories under 50 workers still lack union rules.
• Employers opposed earlier 20-member union rule citing unrest.
• Workers now vote to choose collective bargaining agent (CBA).
• Experts warn small-factory workers' rights remain uncertain.

The government has rolled back its earlier decision allowing trade unions to be formed in any factory with the support of just 20 workers. 

Under the new rules, the minimum number of workers needed to form a union will now depend on the size of the factory, while the maximum number of unions allowed in a single factory will increase from three to five.

The revised decision was finalised yesterday at a meeting of the Tripartite Consultative Committee (TCC), which includes representatives of the government, workers, and employers, and was chaired by Labour and Employment Adviser Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain.

An official from the Ministry of Labour, speaking to The Business Standard on condition of anonymity, explained the new thresholds: factories with 50–500 workers will require at least 50 members to form a union; 501–1,000 workers will require 100; 1,001–3,000 workers will require 300; and factories with more than 3,000 workers will require 400. 

The rule for factories with fewer than 50 workers has not yet been finalised and will be set after the Bangladesh Labour Act is amended.

The government's initial plan, which allowed unions with just 20 members, had drawn criticism from factory owners who warned it could lead to labour unrest, unfair practices, and even factory closures. Garment industry owners raised their concerns with political parties, and some worker groups also opposed the original decision.

Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), described the revised rules as "the good of the bad," saying, "Setting specific requirements based on factory size is a positive step, but allowing five unions in a single factory could increase conflicts and harm the production environment."

Labour rights experts expressed concern over the absence of rules for factories with fewer than 50 workers, which employ nearly 80% of the workforce. One expert, formerly with the International Labour Organisation, told TBS, "By leaving this decision pending, the rights of hundreds of thousands of workers remain uncertain. There is no timeline for when these rules will be formulated."

Changes to collective bargaining recognition

Currently, a trade union in a factory is automatically recognised as the Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) without a vote. 

Under the new rules, workers will vote to decide whether a union becomes the CBA. In factories with multiple unions, all workers, whether union members or not, will vote, and the union with the majority will be recognised as the CBA. 

Once formed, the CBA has legal authority to negotiate with the employer on behalf of workers.