The government has proposed four slabs of worker representation requirement for getting trade union registration in industries as the International Labour Organisation suggested that the Bangladesh government should reduce the existing obligation — 30 per cent of workers of a factory.The labour ministry on Tuesday finalised the proposal on requirement of worker participation threshold for forming trade union day before the meeting of Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the ILO to be held today (Wednesday) in Geneva.The labour ministry on Tuesday sent afresh the drafts of amended labour law and export processing zones law with further changes to the ILO in line with its commitment.In today’s meeting, the CEACR of ILO would review Bangladesh’s labour issues.According to the state minister for labour Md Mujibul Haque, the ministry has set the worker representation requirement at 20 per cent for industries having more than 7,500 workers, 24 per cent for units of 5,001 to 7,500 workers, 27 per cent for industrial units having 2,001 to 5,000 workers and 30 per cent for the factories having workers up to 2,000.Earlier, the labour ministry had sent the drafts of the amended labour law and EPZ law to the ILO on August 31 as per the commitment Bangladesh made at the International Labour Conference held in Geneva in July last year.Later, the state minister sought feedback from the CEACR on the drafts during the 331st session of ILO governing body meeting held in the first week this month.In response to the labour ministry’s call, the ILO has recently sent its comments suggesting review of 12 issues including worker representation threshold for forming trade union.The government verbally conveyed the ILO’s relevant committee during the 331st session of the ILO governing body in Geneva that it would lower the requirement threshold by 3 percentage points to 27.The fresh changes included definition of workers, relaxation of the provisions related to registration of professional trade unions in civil aviation establishments and trade unions of seafarers.The labour ministry agreed to withdraw the requirement of majority support to form a trade union in civil aviation establishments and obligation linked to affiliation with international organisations.The labour ministry also agreed to remove the restriction on forming a single union for the seafarers.The commerce, law and labour ministers on Tuesday held separate meetings with the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and discussed the draft EPZ act.
