The Industrial Bangladesh Council (IBC) has condemned what it described an attempt by the government to finalise modifications to the Labour Act without considering workers’ important demands.
Former IBC General Secretary Salauddin Swapan read a statement outlining the government’s plan as “undemocratic and contrary to ILO Convention 87” during a press conference held yesterday at the Jatiya Press Club.
He claimed that recent talks on the minimum membership required to create unions were abruptly ended without giving labour groups a chance to comment.
According to the suggested formula, factories with 51–60 employees would require 80–100% support in order to create a union, those with 60–70 employees over 72%, those with 70–100 employees over 50% and those with 100–150 employees over 30%. “This will make forming unions even more difficult than before,” according to the IBC.
In factories with 20–50 workers, it suggested that 10 workers be sufficient to form a union; for companies with 51–200 workers, it suggested 20 members; and for factories with more than 3,000 workers, it suggested gradually increasing to 300.
Additional demands include lowering the notice time for resignations from 60 to 30 days, providing six months of maternity leave and paying one month’s salary for each year of service to individuals quitting after a year.
On 12th October, the IBC will send a memo to the labour adviser warning of a broader mobilisation should the bill be finalised without taking into account their concerns.
