Where the latest labour law amendment falls short in the eyes of workers

Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Bill-2023 was passed in parliament on 2 November. Ever since labour leaders have voiced their reservations that some of the major issues they raised have not been addressed in the amendment. 

Although there was participation of labour representatives in the working group in the review committee, some of their major concerns have remained unaddressed in the bill passed in the parliament. 

Besides praising some positives like including workers in agricultural sectors and changing words like 'Mohila' to 'Nari,' among others, the labour leaders say major concerns like the unionisation in the EPZs, removing obstacles in forming and registering trade unions in factories, rights to strike, six months of maternity leave, removing the auto dismissal of workers in case of 10 consecutive days of absence etc continue to remain unaddressed.

The amendment didn't heed union leaders' demand for the removal of provisions obligating consent of 20% of workers of a factory for forming unions where there are less than 3,000 workers and 15% for factories where there are more than 3,000 workers.  

The maternity leave, which has been increased by eight days - from the previous 112 to the current 120 days - has also come under criticism. 

Kalpona Akter, founder and executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, told The Business Standard that they have been demanding a reduction of obstacles in forming trade unions. 

"We asked them to devise this as per ILO convention, which doesn't limit unions by numbers," she said, adding, "They didn't address this."

Economist Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, also a labour market expert, told TBS that workers must have the right to exercise unionisation if they want, as per the ILO standard. 

"Unionisation perhaps doesn't contribute to a massive change to workers' rights, but this is their right. If someone wants to exercise this, they must have this right.  Maybe we don't maintain ILO standards in everything, but we should maintain ILO standards in such technical cases," she said. 

She also mentioned the importance of ensuring the workers' right to strike although "it might not always turn out to be peaceful." 

"We don't support violent strikes, but there should be a way to express their discontent. This is a human right," she added.  

About the EPZ unionisation issue, Kalpona said that there is "no logic of two laws in the same country… EPZ workers should be allowed to form unions." She termed the amendment an attempt to "catch fish without wetting one's feet." 

Labour leader Chowdhury Ashikul Islam was a member of the tripartite labour law review committee from the workers' side. 

"We demanded to have the same law for both [EPZ and general workers]. But the government has not considered this," Chowdhury told TBS.  

He said the tripartite committee didn't reach an agreement on a few dozen issues which were later supposed to be discussed in further meetings, but those meetings of the review committee didn't take place. 

"Basically ministry officials made the draft [of the amendment bill] and moved forward with it. When we protested, they showed us the copy. We raised some objections immediately. But it was not possible to raise all issues just by skimming through it. It was supposed to go through further meetings and considerations. But it eventually went to the parliament," he said. 

"They also didn't change the definition of labourer as we recommended [a worker is one who works for wages]. Instead, it remained the same."

"We also asked to bring the new employment sectors like food delivery, tourism and hospitality under the law's provisions. This has also not been addressed. Yes, some positives are there [like changes in wordings and inclusion of agri workers], but the major things that workers demand have not been reflected in the amendments," Chowdhury added. 

The maternity leave issue, although addressed by extending eight days, has left the union leaders unhappy. 

Kalpona said like how public service employees have six months of maternity leave, factory workers should also have it. She found it illogical that it was only increased by eight days. 

Sayema Haque Bidisha also agrees with her. 

"Children should be breastfed for six months. But how? You have to give [the mother] leave. It is violating the basic rights of the child," she said. 

She also criticised the provisions that allow the auto-dismissal of a worker in case of 10 consecutive days of absence. "You can require a written application or other conditions like that. But you must give them a right to explain," she added. 

The anti-harassment committees' inactive role in the factories has been in discussion in recent weeks. There has been a recent study that found anti-harassment committees were not functioning well. 

Kalpona said the latest bill hasn't addressed the issue of anti-harassment committees in a proper way. 

First of all, this has not been addressed in the law. She said, "We have been reliant on the high court ruling [of 2009]. And the mention of it in the rules [not in law] has removed the provision of two outside members in the committee, which the high court made obligatory."

We tried to reach out to several BGMEA directors and garment owners for their opinion on the latest amendment, however, none responded.