The government has made some corrections to the draft amendment of Bangladesh Labour Act with major changes, including easing trade union formation, in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and western communities’ recommendations.
The key points in the draft include punishment against child labour has been enhanced for both employers and guardians, woman would enjoy maternity leave before or after delivery of her baby, only 15 per cent workers’ signatures enough to form a trade union, and some barriers to formation of the trade union have been removed.
The employees of e-commerce business will come under the purview of the act. The business has been defined as any business operated by internet platforms.
The Tripartite Consultative Council (TCC) has okayed the draft and sent it to the labour ministry. It will be placed in the next parliamentary session in March as bill. Before that, it will be sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for approval. After passing in parliament, a gazette notification will be issued by the President.
Whatever in the draft, workers at Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) will not be allowed to form trade unions as their factories are run by separate law.
On December 2 last year, Parliament passed the “Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Bill, and forwarded it to the President for approval. The US and European Union (EU) had objections to the bill, and said that it deprived the workers of their rights.
Besides, both the trade union leaders and business owners claimed that the Ministry of Labour and Employment is amending the act without taking TCC recommendations into consideration. This happened even though the TCC is empowered both by the ILO and the labour act.
While talking about the issue at that time, National Garment Workers Federation President and Co-founder Amirul Haque Amin said, “The labour act amendment procedure is not acceptable. We identified 56 issues. But the ministry sent the act to the parliament without arbitration in the TCC meeting.”
President Mohammed Shahabuddin, however, withheld approval to the bill amending the law and sent back to the parliament for reconsideration due to concern over a new provision. As a result, the TCC had a chance to review, and after doing the job, they sent the draft to the ministry to take further initiative.
Commenting on the upcoming amendment, a TCC member told The Business Post seeking anonymity, “We are under pressure from our development partners such as the US, EU and ILO regarding the existing labour act.”
“That is why both the parties of TCC tried to consider their [the partners] recommendations. Now the draft will be placed to the ILO, EU and the US respective officials to further clarify, and then it will be placed at the parliament as a bill.”
Chairman of BGMEA Standing Committee on ILO & Labour Affairs ANM Saifuddin said, “Our development partners’ key focus is on trade union, and child labour and we have made a big change in these issues. We are optimistic that they will be happy after seeing the changes.”
On the other hand, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq at the press conference on Tuesday said that he will discuss with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the ILO’s recommendation whether it will be included or not.
“I will talk to her today and then will take necessary steps,” he added.
What’s in the proposed amendment?
The TCC members, seeking anonymity, said they have reduced the threshold of trade union formation.
As per the amendment – that the President had rejected earlier – the signatures of 15 per cent of workers are required to form a trade union in a company having over 3,000 workers, and the signatures of 20 per cent workers are needed in a company having less than 3,000 workers.
As per the existing law, 20 per cent signatures are required in both cases. In the upcoming amendment, the signature requirement is reduced to flat 15 per cent.
In the existing labour act, at least two general meetings need before applying for a trade union registration, and in the application form, applicant’s permanent address should be mentioned. But as per the upcoming amendment, one meeting is enough and permanent address option is omitted.
Trade union leaders blamed that owners’ dillydallying to provide certificate about how many workers they have. In the upcoming amendment, a new section has been included, which states that the owners are bound to provide the certificate within 15 days of application.
In the existing act, 30 per cent workers’ signature requires for forming trade union in an apex body, but the requirement reduces to 20 per cent in the upcoming amendment.
Currently, the list of subscription fee paying members is mandatory to form a trade union, but draft amendment omitted the point, and only members of the proposed trade union list included.
Maternity leave increased to 120 days from 112 days (16 weeks). A woman can enjoy this leave at her convenience, before or after delivering her baby, and her pay will be fixed as per the last pay amount. The leave, however, must not be 21-day less before or after delivery.
In the coming amendment, fine for child labour employer increases to Tk 25,000 from Tk 5,000 and for guardian, it increases to Tk 5,000 from Tk 1,000.
In the draft amendment, racism, gender harassment-discrimination, especially for women and disable, are strongly prohibited, and no one would express any word, look and gesture which are not acceptable in society.
Currently, lockout, strike for new factory is prohibited for three years after establishment, but it will be reduced to two years in the upcoming amendment.
As per the current act, two-third cash amount of participation found disbursement among the beneficiaries every year. But in the upcoming amendment, the whole amount would be disbursed as cash every year.
The upcoming amendment will take a strong stance on protecting children from labour, TCC members said, adding that the formation of trade unions will remain barred in EPZ areas even after amendment.
For illegal strikes and lockouts, the penalty for owners will increase to Tk 20,000 from existing Tk 5,000, but the penalty for workers will remain unchanged.
