RMG workers must have union rights

Labour leaders have called for effective plant-level workers union in the garment sector and rejected the “participation committee” mentioned in the draft amendment to the labour law as it was no alternative to trade unions.

They expressed concern that the amended law due to be passed in parliament this week might not live up to the expectation of the country’s garment workers as they strive to get a large platform to voice their demands.

The participation committee mentioned in the draft is to be formed with all stakeholders, including labour leaders and garment workers.

The law is one of the key factors that might determine whether Bangladesh regains trade preferences in the US market or loses preferential market access to the European Union.

The parliament begins its session today with a task to stamp its approval on a number of bills including the Labour Law (amendment).

The workers’ concern came at a roundtable styled “Safe Workplace: Recent Experience and Way Forward” at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka yesterday.

Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), which promotes the causes of working people and trade unions, and The Daily Star, the country’s mass circulated English newspaper, jointly organised the programme.

BILS Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan said ensuring workers’ safety should be a matter of utmost importance. It should be ensured for the country’s sake, not to bow to mounting pressure from abroad.

“The workers must be given rights to organise, provided with a platform to raise their voice and allowed to settle their issues with their employers at factory level. Without a plant-level mechanism, it would not be possible.”

Nazrul said trade union was the answer to all troubles and crises at the garment factories. “We have laws better than many other countries. We need to implement them. So, we need strong trade union. Although the law does not ban them, the workers are not being allowed to form unions.”

Roy Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, a trade union, said the amended law would not be acceptable locally and globally, if it did not allow workers the freedom to organise and to form trade unions.

He said garment factory owners must follow international labour standards if they wanted to do business in the global arena.

“There should also be self-governance at the plant level so that workers get the chance to raise their issues locally and discuss them. Only inspectors cannot ensure compliance in the big industry,” he said.

Nesar Ahmed, president of Labour Court Bar Association, said many proposals of the workers might not be included in the amendment to the labour law which was due to be passed this week.

The law also might not be strict on the duties of the factory owners, he said.

Farooq Ahmed, secretary general of Bangladesh Employers’ Association, said the employers were ready to accept trade unions.

“Bangladesh Employers Federation has long been calling for trade unions at factories — long before the Tazreen Fire or Rana Plaza collapse. We have also proposed to include export processing zones.”

He did not hide the employers’ fear about trade unions. “The employers fear that politics could infiltrate trade unions. Politicised trade unions will ultimately disrupt production, putting investment of hundreds of crores of taka in jeopardy.

“Politics must be disengaged from trade unions,” he said. “We have to look at the issue from a realistic point of view.”

Arthur E Shears, a chief technical adviser of International Labour Organisation (ILO), Dhaka, said the country needs to take steps to have occupational safety in place, as factories were the places where workers spend one-third of their lives.

“We need to promote safety culture.”

Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, blamed weak governance for the troubles in the industrial sector.

“In Bangladesh, one can run a business without following laws, as the authorities do not perform their due duties.”

She said the non-governmental organisations gave proposals for the garment sector in the past but they were not implemented.

“Bangladesh would have been able to avert the current type of crises if those suggestions were implemented. But whenever we had raised them the industries not only opposed them but also accused us of plotting to destroy the sector.”

She said Manusher Jonno Foundation and BILS had submitted chapter-wise rules on the Labour Law, 2006, in 2008 to the labour ministry. “But we do not know what has happened to them. Recently, we have heard that the labour ministry is trying to come up with regulations.”

AMM Safiullah, vice-chancellor of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, said, “None in Bangladesh follows civil engineering standard procedures while constructing buildings. As a result, small buildings are also collapsing alongside high-rise buildings.”

He said turning residential buildings into commercial ones or factories was a crime and should not be allowed.

Mohammad Mahboob, director, operations of Fire Service and Civil Defence, who played a key role in the rescue efforts in the Tazreen Fashion fire, warned about the unsound condition of the garment factories in Old Dhaka.

Abdur Razaque Khan, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, said the weakness of the labour department was known to all and the department was not accountable.

Shirin Akter, a labour leader, who chaired the event, said Bangladesh would have to take steps to implement conditions set out in the Geneva agreement last week.