Ordinance on labour law amendment by March

The interim government will amend the existing labour law and issue an ordinance on it within March next year. The ordinance will include provisions on ensuring workers’ rights, service-time benefits and maternity leave for 120 days.

Labour and employment secretary AHM Safiquzzamna briefed the journalists on it after the coordination meeting on ‘contemporary labour situation review’ at the Secretariat on Sunday.

Labour and employment adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) administrator Anowar Hossain, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) president Mohammad Hatem were present at the briefing.

A report was presented at the meeting on the progress of implementation of the 18-point demands that were negotiated between garment factory owners and workers in September. One of the demands was to amend the existing labour law.

After the meeting, the labour adviser said when the incumbent government took office three months ago, the apparel sector was in a volatile situation; now the situation is improving. Many issues of the 18-point demands have been implemented. Payment of arrears in the garment sector is a very complex issue, and this is not also the duty of the government. Sometimes it happens that factories cannot pay worker wages because they cannot get Tk 50 million from banks, and later the owner is found to have defaulted Tk 2 billion.

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said many of the factory owners who are yet to pay workers’ arrears think the government would do so, but it is not the government’s duty and the government can assist in this case and is doing so.

Labour adviser and labour secretary returned home three days ago after participating in the meeting of the governing body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sharing his experiences, the labour adviser said the delegation led by the law minister of the previous government was humiliated at the ILO governing body, but the scenario was different this time. Rather, steps taken by Bangladesh were praised and several countries also said they would withdraw the case against Bangladesh.

Six countries including Japan filed the case against Bangladesh on allegation of lacking in the implementation of labour rights.

At the introductory speech of the meeting, the labour secretary said a deal was reached on the 18-point demands on 24 September after lots of discussions, and if these are implemented, there should be no unrest. Yet, the Dhaka-Mymensingh road is blocked now (1:00 pm on Sunday) because of unrest, and several factories are causing the unrest.

Major issues of the 18-point demands include revision of minimum wages, attendance allowance, tiffin and night bills, withdrawal of lawsuits against workers, introduction of rations, central monitoring for closure of jhut (garment wastage) business, compensation to the martyrs and the injured of the July-August revolution and  treatment of the injured.

The labour secretary said those were being implemented.