Country Report -Bangladesh

Transcription

1 Country Report -Bangladesh (A ) Trade Union Training for youth Trade Union Leaders on Organising and Collective Bargaining for Decent Work Submitted by: August 2013, Singapore Md. Rafiqul Islam Genaral Secretary, JBJKU & Youth Committee, BJSD Member, Central Executive Committee, BJSD

2 Country Status Bangladesh is a country of 160 million populations. The estimated civilian labour force of the country is 56.7 (male 39.5, female 17.2 ) million in which 54.1 million are currently employed (male 37.9, female 16.2 ). Employment by major occupation and major industry are given below: Youth Labour Force (15-29) in million : 20.9 (male 13.1, female 7.8) Youth Labour Force (15-24) in million : 13.2 (male 8.2, female 5.0) Employed by formal sector million : 6.8 (male 5.5, female 1.3) in Employed by informal sector in million : 47.3 (male 32.4, female 14.9) (Source: Labour Force Survey 2010, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics)

3 Cont. Employment by major industry (million) Agriculture, forestry & fisheries 25.7 Mining and quarrying 0.1 Manufacturing 6.7 Electricity, Gas and water 0.1 Construction 2.6 Trade, hotel and restaurant 8.4 Transport, storage & communication 4.0 Finance & business services and real estate 1.0 Health, education, public admn. & defense 2.3 Community and personal services 3.4 (Source: Labour Force Survey 2010, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics)

4 Trade Unionism in Bangladesh Historical Background: The TU movement, which started its journey in this region in around 1921, has a long history of struggle. TU played a vital role in the fights against colonial oppressions both during British and Pakistani regime. It had an outstanding contribution in the war of liberation and all the democratic movements of the country.

5 Facts on Trade union Facts About trade unions Total membership 22, 34,921 Workers Total Basic union 7297 Total National federation 32

6 Challenges of TU Legal Barriers Lack of information / no study Economic deficiency / lack of fund Lack of skilled /Effective Organizer No full time organizer Lack of own policies/guidelines of the TU Barriers/Obstacles from the employers, political parties, muscle man, influential persons Communication problem for the TU due to scattered and spread of the workers Lack of awareness/campaign activities from the TUs Lack of awareness/knowledge about TU of the workers

7 Women Workers of Bangladesh Increasing women workforce in garments, service and informal sectors without security and other basic rights like fare and equal pay etc. Expansion of informal sector, specially the construction and post agro-based industry without legal protection.

8 Participation of Women in Workplace Number of Women Workers in Bangladesh: 12.5 million Women are 24.54% of the total labour force In the last 4 years, 4.9 million Women have joined workplace and in addition, 0.2 million women workers are working abroad.

9 Classification of Women according to profession Professional, Technical Clerical worker sales worker Production, transport labourer Administrative, managerial Services worker Agri, forestry, fisheries Others

10 Union Demand to assure safe workplace for women - Women friendly Labour Law - Proper implementation of Law (strong inspection mechanism) - Penalty for violation of Law - Right to organise and Collective bargaining - Social Safety Net - Public support

11 Union initiatives towards women workers Organising Garments and informal sectors Integrate into Union Activities Strengthen Women committee and Form women committee in enterprise level Include more women leaders into the decision making body Undertake capacity enhancement programmes Campaign on women issues

12 Scope of Collective Bargaining Bangladesh ratified ILO convention 87 & 98 and Labour Law has Granted the Freedom of association and Collective Bargaining. In principle of Labour Law, Bangladesh recognizes the right to Collective Bargaining of workers. Private sector workers enjoy Collective Bargaining rights fully. Workers of State-owned enterprise enjoy Collective Bargaining rights partially (esp. Wage and Allowance are not in included in CB).

13 Limitations of Collective Bargaining Despite the recognition of Collective Bargaining by Bangladesh Labour Law, there are huge limitations :- Workers of public sector do not have collective bargaining (esp. government employees) Autonomous bodies and some govt. institution like telecom, railway can bargain but they are restrained from bargaining on wage.

14 Cont. Professional and Managerial stuff are not included in the collective bargaining rights. Informal workers, domestic workers and home based workers excluded from the Labour Law protection are not covered by collective bargaining. Restriction on strike on newly established enterprises also restricts the scope for collective bargaining. Lengthy, conditional in the entire process of union registration and restriction in some areas in registration make collective bargaining difficult in national and industrial level.

15 What to do? Amendment of Labour Law in line with ILO convention 87 & 98, so that all workers can enjoy Collective Bargaining. Discourse settlement mechanism in conciliation and arbitration of system should be strengthened. Trade Union capacity also needs to be strengthened. Ensuring social security of workers. Solidarity support in industrial action is necessary.

16 Thank You!