Experts, labour leaders, and members of the Labour Reform Commission on Sunday called for a national minimum wage for workers in all sectors.
They also urged creating guidelines on a sectoral basis for how a worker will be promoted against a certain grade by coordinating the grade-related issues.
Moreover, experts also urged the implementation of a uniform labour law applicable to employees both inside and outside the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), citing discriminatory labour laws inside and outside the EPZ despite being in the same country.
They were speaking at a discussion titled “Reform in workers' livelihood, workplace safety, and rights-related issues: An agenda for the interim government,” organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in collaboration with Christian Aid on Sunday in the capital.
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, head of the Labour Reform Commission, said that they found almost 85% of workers as informal—out of nearly 80 million in the total labour force.
“85% means about 60 million workers have no legal protection. Over time, workplaces increased, and software-based organizations have come. But the largest portion of workers remain outside the law. As much as we are discussing the law, the law protects only a handful of the workers,” he also said.
Ahmed further said that from households to secretariat workers, inequality has widened.
A large portion of the workers at the bottom are outsourced workers who have no legal protection.
“In our country, there is no outsourcing in officer positions, whereas in neighboring countries, researchers, academia, or experts are appointed to the positions of joint and senior secretaries,” the LRC head stated.
He also said that despite the country being one of the major sectors, there are no formal or direct workers in the construction sector, as the contractors hire all the workers, and no one can see them.
“How will we work on their rights? We need to reform. That is why we want to make recommendations with everyone. This is not an isolated issue. Why should workers take to the streets to get their wages and rights? Formulating recommendations is not the last step; we have to be on the ground to implement them,” he added.
Taslima Akhter Lima, member of the Labour Reform Commission and president of the Labour Federation, said that the right to life, livelihood, and expression is very important for the labour sector.
“We have to work keeping in mind the importance and the dignity of the labour force for our new generation. The work of workers is generally considered small or neglected—which is insulting, and it needs to be changed,” she added.
She also said that from the Labour Court to the High Court, the language of proceedings is English, and the sections of laws are written in very difficult Bangla, which is beyond a worker’s understanding.
“We urge you to use simple Bangla so that the workers can understand. Although the Constitution gives workers’ rights, they are trapped in the maze of the law,” she lamented.
She also urged ensuring the rights of women workers more effectively in workplaces and taking steps to bring workers from the informal sector into the formal sector.
Lima also said that the Department of Labour and the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments have to be strengthened.
“The basic wage must be increased in the new wage structure. We have to make sure the labourers get a decent salary. In this regard, introducing a national minimum wage for all is a must. Laws should be formulated to ensure the rights of life and livelihood of workers,” she added.
No child labour in the formal sector
Kamran T Ahmed, president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said that there are no child labourers in organized or formal sectors of the country.
He also said that as almost 85% of the workers are from the informal sector, there may be some cases of child labourers. They are working closely with sectors like cleaning, sweepers, households, and beauty parlors to resolve the issue.
Farooq Ahmed, secretary general of the Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF), echoed the same and said there is no child labour in the formal sector of the country.
They also said that the concepts of forced labour and bonded labour are also absent in Bangladesh.
“We lack negotiation and dialogue skills. As a result, instead of discussions at the table, there is agitation on the streets. We need to increase collective negotiations. In this regard, we have asked the government to follow the Malaysian model for the protection of workers. Because we can take lessons from those who have signed the ILO Convention,” he added.
CPD Senior Research Associate Tamim Ahmed presented the keynote, and he recommended introducing a wage guarantee insurance scheme by the government.
The keynote also recommended incorporating provisions for children's education into the minimum wage structure.
The CPD also recommended gradually moving towards announcing a national minimum wage that will be temporarily applicable to all industries.
The think tank suggested making a major revision to all the sectoral minimum wages set more than 5 years ago within the next year, prioritizing the oldest one first.
Minimum wages should be guaranteed for all types of contract-based workers, including those temporarily hired through third parties with legal provisions, CPD further said.
They also recommended setting all minimum wage structure allowances—such as the housing allowance—as a percentage of the basic salary rather than a fixed amount.
All industries should be under the MWB coverage, prioritizing sectors with a lower presence of trade unions, CPD added.
The recommendations also included introducing a new legal provision requiring an additional amount to pay for each day's delay in wage payment, substantially raising the penalty for not paying the minimum wage, especially deliberately and repeatedly.
Regarding the payment method of salaries, CPD suggested making it mandatory to wage and other financial benefits payments through formal and banking channels and/or MFS/DFS and enabling night banking services for workers near industrial zones.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the CPD, moderated the discussion, while Nuzhat Jabin, country director of Christian Aid, delivered the closing remarks.
