A high-level mission of International Labour Organization has enquired about the current state of workers’ right in forming trade unions in Bangladesh and questioned about the slow growth of trade union registration in the readymade garment sector, said a top official at the labour ministry. The topics were raised as the mission held a meeting with the Ministry of Labour and Employment yesterday. The visiting ILO delegation that arrived yesterday for a three-day tour also held a meeting with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed who had appraised it that the government was able to ensure workers’ rights, especially in apparel industry, and create a workers-friendly environment in factories. The five-member “high-level tripartite mission freedom of association and collective bargaining” is led by Elizabeth Onuko, and other members include Sonia Regenbogen, Marc Leemans, Karen Curtis and Veronika Vajdova. The visit aims to learn the status of Bangladesh’s workers, their freedom of association, collective bargaining and safety standards, especially in the RMG industry. “Discussions focused on improvement of safety standards in factories, and workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights,” Mikail Shipar, senior labour secretary, told the Dhaka Tribune. “ILO mission wanted to know about a sudden fall in growth of trade union registration. But there are significant improvements as nearly 400 trade unions have been registered over the last three years,” he said. According to the labour ministry, a total of 326 trade unions have been registered with Directorate of Labour after the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse that claimed hundreds of workers’ lives. The number of trade unions in the country’s garment industry has increased to 486 in 2015 from 138 in 2012. In 2013 a total of 83 trade unions were registered and in 2014 the number rose to 185. Some 80 trade unions got registered as of August in 2015. “I informed the mission that the government has taken all necessary measures to ensure workers’ rights to have trade unions registered,” said Mikail Shipar. “The number of employees has increased, and the authorities concerned to provide all necessary cooperation to the workers in trade union registration.” He said: “We have urged the mission to convey a message to the ILO to take initiatives to train up workers’ leaders so that they can properly apply for registration of trade unions.” About the slow growth of trade union registration, a high official at the ministry asking not be named said: “As per the rules, the application for trade union registration is required to have 30% representation of workers. But many came without required number of workers’ representation. This is a major reason the growth of registration becomes slow.” He said in some cases workers’ leaders back-tracked from registration after submission of application due to alleged mutual understanding with the owners.
