IndustryAll Bangladesh calls for trade union formation with just 10 workers

In protest against the initial decision that required a minimum of 50 workers to form a trade union, IndustryAll Bangladesh Council (IBC), a platform representing the country's labour unions, has demanded that trade unions be allowed to form with just 10 workers.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday at the National Press Club in Dhaka, IBC representatives said that in establishments with 20 to 50 workers, 10 workers should be able to come together to form a trade union.

For context, at a meeting of the Tripartite Consultative Committee (TCC) held on 28 September, which included representatives of workers, employers and the government, it was decided that factories with 50 to 500 workers could form a trade union if 50 workers requested it. 

Factories with 501-1,000 workers would require 100 workers; 1,001-3,000 workers would require 300; and factories with more than 3,000 workers would require 400 workers.

On this basis, the government has begun the process of amending the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA). 

However, at Monday's press conference, the IBC criticised the decision, saying that the method proposed for determining the number of workers required to form a trade union, if finalised, will undermine the right to union formation and create new problems.

IBC's former secretary Salahuddin Swapan read out the organisation's written statement.

The council also put forward a new proposal: in factories with 20 to 50 workers, a union could be formed if 10 workers request it; for 50 to 200 workers, 20; for 201 to 400 workers, 30; for 401 to 500 workers, 40; for 501 to 1,000 workers, 50; for 1,001 to 3,000 workers, 100; and for factories with more than 3,000 workers, 300 workers would be sufficient to form a union.

Several other demands on behalf of workers were also raised during the press conference. IBC's president Kutub Uddin Ahmed and general secretary Babul Akhter, among others, were present.

For context, the current government had initially decided that a trade union could be formed in any factory if 20 workers requested it, and that a maximum of five unions could be established in a single factory – a move that drew criticism from employers. 

Following last week's meeting, the government has stepped back from this initial decision.