Bangladesh will formally protest a statement by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that described the recently-amended labour law as “not satisfactory.”
At a press briefing at the ministry yesterday Labour Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju said: “Why is this type of statement issued? It is not correct to make such comments.”
He said the government was in touch with the ILO’s local office and would protest with a formal letter to the head office.
However, the minister also said: “We do not disown ILO.”
In mid July, parliament passed the Labour Law (amendment) 2013. A statement issued by ILO headquarters in Geneva on July 22 said: “An initial review suggests that the amendments did address some of the ILO’s specific concerns, while falling short of several important steps called for by the ILO supervisory system to bring the law into conformity with ratified international labour standards.”
The labour minister said the amended labour law was yet to be signed by the president. He wondered how foreigners could comment on it as an official English translation was not available as yet.
The minister said the amended law would satisfy all stakeholders including foreign parties. “When the English version of the labour law amendment will be ready, it will satisfy all the stakeholders including the US, the EU as well as the ILO,” he said.
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said Bangladesh’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Geneva Md Abdul Hannan met with the ILO Director General to convey the government’s dissatisfaction.
He said: “Ambassador Hannan and DG ILO [Guy Ryder] had a meeting yesterday [Wednesday] and the ambassador expressed his displeasure over the statement. The ILO DG told him [Hannan] that the statement was issued under pressure from different quarters.”
Shipar said before the statement was issued the matter was not discussed with any of the stakeholders.
The labour secretary said: “The ILO local office is in constant consultation with us and we are doing everything after consulting them. The local office denied any connection with the statement.”
Shipar said he did not know whether the ILO would withdraw its statement or not but “the government is not happy with the statement.”