Bangladesh’s claim for the restoration of trade benefits to the US market has got stronger as the government took measures to improve labour rights in factories housed inside the export processing zones.The existing workers welfare associations (WWAs) in the EPZ factories will act as collective bargaining agents (CBAs) similar to trade unions, once the Bangladesh EPZ Labour Law 2016 is passed in parliament.The cabinet last week gave the nod to the draft of the law, which will supersede the EPZ Workers’ Welfare and Industrial Relations Act 2010.Allowing trade unions in the EPZ factories was the last of the 16 conditions put down by the United States Trade Representative, the chief trade negotiation body for the US government, to regain the Generalised System of Preferences scheme.Under the new rules, 30 percent workers of a factory would have to ask the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza), the regulatory body for the EPZs, for the formation of the WWAs by filling in a form.Once the Bepza verifies the applications and allows the WWAs, there would be a referendum among the workers for holding polls to elect the WWA leaders.The government was initially rigid about allowing such rights in the factories housed inside the EPZs owing to its commitment to foreign investors that unionism would not be allowed within the zones.EPZs’ foreign investors were divided on the issue of unionism, but the government gave it the go-ahead, giving the utmost importance to winning back the GSP.Currently, more than 4.4 lakh workers are employed in the 453 factories in eight EPZs. These factories attracted investment of $3.74 billion so far from home and abroad.Another 121 factories are under construction in the EPZs.In fiscal 2014-15, the EPZ factories exported goods worth $6.11 billion.After the twin industrial disasters of Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse, the US government in June 2013 suspended the GSP scheme for Bangladesh on grounds of serious shortcomings in workplace safety and poor labour rights.Under the scheme, Bangladesh used to export 0.54 percent of its total shipments to the US in a year, which amounted to about $26 million.The USTR, however, laid down a 16-point action plan for the Bangladesh government to win back the trade benefits.One of the conditions was the amendment to the labour law to allow workers the full freedom of association, which the government complied in July 2013.Since then, the government has also allowed more than 350 new trade unions.The government has also upgraded the department of chief factory inspector to a directorate and recruited more than 200 new inspectors, as per the action plan.It has also built a publicly accessible database on factories and arranged training programmes for garment workers.Three inspection agencies — Accord, Alliance and National Action Plan — have completed inspection of 3,800 factories and have recommended remediation works to improve structural, fire and electrical safety.Yet, the US government feels the government has to do more, leaving out Bangladesh from the list of 122 nations for whom GSP was restored last June.The USTR has not set a timeframe for the next review on Bangladesh’s progress in meeting the US requirements.
