The government has finally approved a draft of “The Bangladesh EPZ Labour Law, 2016” enshrining the workers’ right of association in the country’s Export Processing Zones (EPZs).
The approval came at a regular cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair yesterday.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told the journalists that the new law also allows the workers to form a permanent wage board for themselves.
He added that the law would be framed in the light of the existing Labour Law 2006.
The law let the workers to form Workers’ Welfare Association that will handle issues of collective bargaining, the cabinet secretary said.
Under the proposed law, the family members of a worker would get compensation of Tk2 lakh if he or she dies while on duty.
Moreover, an amount of Tk2.25 lakh has been fixed to give a worker if he or she faces “permanent” or “complete” disability in accidents.
Mohammad Shafiul Alam said the Worker’s Welfare Association would work as like as trade union.
“The association will have freedom to organise programmes to press home their demand.”
Under the Bangladesh EPZ Act 2010, no trade union is allowed in the EPZs. But Bangladesh has signed the ILO Convention with the promise that trade unionism will not be barred in any factory including that in EPZ.
“By the proposed law, it seems that the government has tried to pacify both parties – one (international rights groups) calling for trade union and the other (investors) opposing it,” a cabinet member told the Dhaka Tribune.
He explained that as Bangladesh EPZ law bans trade unions in the EPZ area, the draft EPZ labour law has not directly named what is going to be allowed as trade union, instead it has been titled as the Worker’s Welfare Association.
“Under the proposed law, the EPZ workers can exercise their rights of association through the WWA while you cannot directly call it trade union.”
Cabinet secretary said the WWA would ensure the workers’ freedom of association and the difference between trade union and WWA is only in name.
