The visiting delegation of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Wednesday suggested Bangladesh to comply before mid-June with the ILO recommendations mentioned in a special paragraph, particularly to ensure labour rights, which is one of the core values for duty-free market access in the EU. The delegation, led by Socialists and Democrats Co-rapporteur Arne Lietz, also reiterated their stance for equal rights of all workers in and outside the export processing zones of Bangladesh. “We note that Bangladesh was mentioned under a special paragraph in the last ILO conference in Geneva in June 2016,” Mr Lietz told a press conference in the city, concluding their three-day visit in Dhaka. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) called on Bangladesh to address four issues: full alignment of the EPZ draft law, Bangladesh Labour Act with the UN core Labour Convention, modalities for establishing trade unions and the right to trade unions to operate freely. “It is important that these issues are addressed before the 18th May review of the Sustainability Compact and the June annual International Labour Conference of the ILO,” said the delegation leader. The EU is currently examining the whole issues of fairness in the garment supply chains worldwide. “The Accord and Alliance are encouraging examples of what can be achieved when companies, government and workers pool efforts to improve standards,” he said. He pointed out that Bangladesh has made a remarkable progress, especially in terms of workplace safety in the garment sector, and said the visiting MEPs will submit a positive note to their colleagues in Brussels. During the visit, the delegation met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker of the parliament, commerce and labour ministers, leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, brands and retailers, labour leaders and the ILO officials. “We felt a readiness and goodwill from all parties to engage on this issue and are hopeful this will translate into concrete progress before the May review of Sustainability Compact in Dhaka and the Geneva ILO Conference in mid-June,” Mr Lietz said. “As members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in European Parliament, our engagement with Bangladesh, as with other countries, is guided by our core values, where respect for human rights and labour rights, in particular freedom of association and collective bargaining rank high,” he said. “That is why the full implementation of the Sustainability Compact is so important in our view.” Responding to a question on terrorist attacks in the country, he suggested for free media, free speech, free civil society, free expression so that not only the institutions, NGOs and government organizations but also the students and other players of the society are able to bring them to the society’s debate and discussions. He said the EU and the other partners of the Sustainability Compact will review the progresses Bangladesh made for the workplace safety and establishing labour rights under the Sustainabilty Compact in its third review meeting to be held on May 18. Replying to another question, EU ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said he did not know what would happen if Bangladesh’s progresses to be reviewed prove not satisfactory. BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman, managing director of Mohammadi Group Rubana Huq and director of BGMEA Miran Ali, among others, were present at the briefing.
