The labour sector needs comprehensive reforms to ensure worker rights and welfare. The interim government has, however, received recommendations from the labour reforms commission.
Labour leaders and rights activists said that a unified democratic labour law, an appropriate increase in sector-based minimum wages, and the implementation of essential rights for workers were needed for the workers鈥� welfare.
They stressed the need for bringing the informal sector, which employs around 85 per cent of the workforce, under regulations.
Legal reforms, according to them, are also necessary to ensure workers鈥� rights to form trade unions and have organisational freedom.
They also urged to focus on setting minimum wages for both formal and informal sector workers and reducing workplace accidents. The country has minimum wages for 42 formal sector workers.
They, however, said that, after the fall of the Awami League regime amid a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, the country鈥檚 labour situation had improved slightly.
Besides the formation of the Labour Reform Commission, key positive changes in the sector include wage increments, the readymade garment factory owners鈥� acceptance of workers鈥� 18 demands, and workers鈥� overall participation in advocating for their rights, they said.
The government on November 18, 2024 set up the Labour Reform Commission, which submitted its report to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on April 21. The report included recommendations to establish social justice and ensure fundamental rights for the country鈥檚 labour force.
Against this backdrop, May Day is going to be observed today in the country as elsewhere across the globe.
鈥業n the past eight months, some visible improvements have occurred in the labour sector,鈥� said Labour Reform Commission chairman Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed.
Some factories, however, became closed during the time as coordinated efforts could not be taken appropriately after the August 5 political changeover, Sultan Uddin, also an executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said.
鈥榃orkers鈥� healthcare is still neglected, and this area requires attention. We need to reach global standards here, with community-based healthcare in labour-intensive areas being the ideal approach,鈥� he added.
Moreover, the commission has called for the abolition of proportional representation of workers in forming trade unions and urged the government to protect the union representatives from harassment, he said.
The government should focus on the informal labour sector as the sector comprises about 85 per cent of the total labour force but it is still outside the purview of any regulations or labour acts, he said.
鈥業f our commission鈥檚 recommendations are implemented, a fair and equitable labour sector can be established,鈥� he claimed.
Bangladesh Garment Workers鈥� Federation president Nazma Akter said that the annual wage increment for RMG workers had been raised from 5 per cent to 9 per cent in November 2024.
On September 24, 2024, the owners鈥� organisations accepted RMG workers鈥� 18 demands including increasing attendance bonuses, tiffin and night allowances, extending maternity leave, and implementing the latest wage board award.
She said that she came to know that the amendment to the labour law was also in progress.
鈥榃orkers now have more room to voice their concerns,鈥� she observed.
IndustriALL Bangladesh Council鈥檚 women鈥檚 affairs secretary Chayana Akter stressed the need for minimum wages for both formal and informal sectors.
Workers of many formal sectors including cement, ceramics, and agro-processing factories have no government-set minimum wage and the workers in informal sectors that employ the country鈥檚 85 per cent workers are yet to be brought under the wage board purview.
鈥榃orkers are often made scapegoats due to political connections of the owners, and this must stop,鈥� she said.
Despite increased exports, workers still find themselves on the streets demanding better wages, she said.
Labour and employment affairs secretary AHM Sofiquzzaman said that every issue that the Labour Reform Commission recommended in its report would be addressed.
He said that they would work on the commission鈥檚 report throughout May.
He also said that they would focus on reducing the gap between the country鈥檚 laws and the ILO convention for the betterment of the rights and welfare of the workers.