Labour (Amendment) Bill 2026: BKMEA wants amendment of some sections

The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), an organization of the readymade garment sector, has welcomed the Labour (Amendment) Bill 2026 passed in the National Parliament and thanked the government.

However, due to lack of time, the organization has called for the undesirable ambiguities and confusions that remain in some sections of the law to be amended through future discussions in the parliament.

This was announced in a statement signed by BKMEA president Mohammad Hatem on Saturday.

The statement said that in the context of the directives of some international organizations, attempts were made to create ambiguity and confusion in some sections of the Labour Act by ignoring the decisions of the Tripartite Consultative Committee during the interim government in the past.

According to BKMEA, these steps could have sown the seeds of labour discontent in the industry in the long run. The organization claims that if such ambiguity continues, both the industrial plants and the workers would be at risk of being harmed. It could also send a negative message to international buyers.

The statement said that although the current elected government has amended some sections of the amended labour law and passed the law, ambiguity still remains in some cases, which BKMEA fears could lead to labour unrest in the future.

According to the organization, if these ambiguities are not removed, domestic and foreign investment will be discouraged and the process of ease of doing business may also be hampered.

In the interest of maintaining a peaceful production system in industrial plants, BKMEA has made a humble request to the government to remove these ambiguities during the next amendment of the labour code and labour law in the future.

In the statement, the organization welcomed the provision that considers unfair ‘blacklisting’ of workers as unfair labour practices.