The Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organisation urged the government of Bangladesh to ensure that the case of Grameenphone Employees Union pending before a labour court in Dhaka is concluded without further delay.
ILO came up with the recommendations during its session held on November 5 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
A report of the committee has been published on the website of the ILO after the session where it also requested Bangladesh government to provide information on the status and outcome of the case to the ILO committee.
It also requested the government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that the procedures of examination of complaints of anti-union discrimination are prompt and impartial and considered as such by the parties concerned.
The ILO committee noted the extremely slow pace of justice in handling the complaint of Adeeba Zerin against her employer for anti-union dismissal.
It also mentioned that the account of the government indicates that after 12 years, the case is still pending, partly due to the continuous legal actions taken by the employer to obstruct the advancement of the proceedings.
The Committee recalls that 鈥榗ases concerning anti-union discrimination contrary to Convention No. 98 should be examined rapidly, so that the necessary remedies can be really effective.鈥�
Adeeba Zerin Chowdhury, the communication secretary of the Grameenphone Employees Union said that the GPEU applied for registration on July 23, 2012 and the next day the management unlawfully terminated nearly 200 union members, including her and six other union leaders, to stop the movement.
The company then offered the dismissed persons an exit package and asked them to sign resignation letters, which was accepted by all but only the three union leaders, she said.
She said that it is very regrettable that a labour court in Bangladesh cannot start hearing a case even in 12 years of its filing.
We are getting affected due to the slow trial proceeding in the case, she said.
