The visiting United States’ delegation led by the special representative for international labour affairs at the US Department of State, Kelly M Fay Rodriguez, on Monday expressed concerns over unfair labour practices, complex trade union registration processes and legal actions against garment workers and labour leaders involved in labour movements.
The delegation members expressed the concerns at a meeting with senior officials of the labour ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital Dhaka on the day.
The US delegation also demanded a full implementation of 11 points, provided by the Biden administration in April 2024, within a short time to protect the workers’ rights in Bangladesh, labour secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman said at a briefing following the meeting.
‘We have conveyed that significant progress has been made on all issues outlined in the 11-point plan, and most of the requirements will be met within a short period of time,’ he said.
Regarding the minimum membership threshold for the trade union registration, the labour ministry informed the US delegation that the government has decided to reduce the threshold to 15 per cent from existing 20 per cent, the labour secretary said.
The ministry has also conveyed that a labour grievance monitoring committee has been established to address the unfair labour practices and anti-union discrimination within the timeframe outlined in the standard operating procedure, Shafiquzzaman mentioned.
The labour ministry informed the delegation that the government is eagerly interested to work on workers’ rights issues with the US.
‘It is crucial now for rebuilding the trust of global stakeholders, which has been eroded by past instances of noncompliance with our commitments,’ the labour secretary said.
He said that a single labour act for industrial units within and outside export processing zones would be considered after conducting an impact assessment through a third-party engagement.
Shafiquzzaman said that the government would fulfil all its labour-related commitments by March 2025, ahead of the next governing body meeting of the International Labour Organisation.
During the briefing, he also said that an advisory council committee, led by labour adviser M Sakhawat Hossain, was formed to review the labour and business conditions at the Beximco Industrial Park.
The committee will assess the impact of unrest at the industrial park on nearby industrial establishments and public life and will formulate recommendations for appropriate actions, Shafiquzzaman added.
