Staff Reporter :
The United States has called upon the government to streamline the rules and regulations for allowing the formation of trade unions in the factories of Bangladesh.
Following the suggestion, Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Haque has stated that the rules for the formation of trade unions will be made easier to address the environment of workers’ rights in Bangladesh.
“They (US) have proposed to reduce the number of signatures from 15 per cent to 10 per cent necessary for the formation of trade union in factories with fewer than 3000 workers.
We have given importance to the gradual reduction,” the minister said at the Secretariat on Sunday.
Speaking at a meeting with the Labor Attache of the US Embassy in Dhaka, Lina Khan, and First Secretary (Political) Mathew Beh, Anisul Haque said, “I have clarified that our employers and workers’ federations always insist that gradual reduction is beneficial for them.
This will be reduced according to the labour rights situation in Bangladesh. That is our decision.”
As per the recently approved Bangladesh Labor (Amendment) Bill-2023 in the Parliament, the formation of a trade union in an organisation will necessitate the consent of 20 per cent of the workers if the total number of workers is up to 3,000.
If the total number of workers exceeds 3,000, the required consent for forming a trade union will be 15 per cent of the workers.
“They mentioned that factories with three thousand or more workers are quite rare.
In response, I expressed that we can make a decision after engaging in discussions with the stakeholders,” he remarked.
Regarding the meeting with the US officials, he stated, “They have given their statements on labour rights.
You may remember, this discussion has been going on since last year. We have discussed this issue with them at different times.”
“We have talked about any further progress about labour law. We have discussed these issues with them from time to time.
Today’s discussion was on this subject. You know that the labour law went to the President, it was sent back for a specific reason. That has also come up in today’s discussion,” he said.
Anisul Haque said, “We have talked about the trade union threshold and other issues.
Especially, they have told me that they want to work as a partner with us on this issue.
And in the United States, they are very aware of workers’ rights, and it is a very important issue for them.”
“I told them that labour right is a matter of extreme importance to the government of Bangladesh and the Awami League government.
I have also said that a team will sit with them for discussion in the Ministry of Labour on Wednesday,” the minister said.
The Law Minister further mentioned that the ILO governing body meeting is slated for March, and they have sought information from us to gauge our advancements in the sector.
After the upcoming meeting, we will provide them with updates on those specific matters, he stated.
The minister claimed that the meeting with the US representatives was fruitful.
Regarding whether the discussion included the issue of Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the minister stated that there was no mention of it during their conversation.