Trade unionism in RMG agreed, Bangladesh

The labour and employment ministry brokered the meeting a day after police opened fire on workers demonstrating against abrupt closure of Nippon Garment at Tongi without paying their dues. At least three people were killed and scores of others injured in the incident, one of the worst since 2006.

A 12-member committee, headed by chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry Israfil Alam, has been assigned to recommend how trade unionism could be introduced effectively in the export-oriented apparel industry to deal with labour issues amicably.

‘The committee comprising representatives from owners, workers and the labour ministry will recommend on allowing trade unions in RMG factories…The body will look into the incidents of labour unrest,’ labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told reporters after the meeting.

The Saturday’s angry labour outburst and subsequent police firing resulted from abrupt closure of Nippon, a subcontractor for large exporters which turned insolvent due to falling order.

Industry association leaders claimed that the layoff was inevitable and lawful, and sensed a campaign of industrial sabotage in the unrest that halted traffic on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for hours.

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, who also attended the Sunday’s meeting at secretariat, said that there was no other alternative to trade unionism in the RMG industries to avert any untoward incidents in the export-oriented apparel sector.

‘We must introduce trade unions in the RMG factories to settle labour issues amicably… Trade union leaders will be responsible for any untoward incidents in the sector once the unions are formed,’ Shahjahan, the labour leader-turned-minister, told the meeting.

BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy told New Age that the trade unionism should not be introduced all on a sudden in the RMG sector where 80 per cent of the workers were female.

‘There is no restriction on formation of trade unions as per ILO convention…We must consider that 80 per cent workers are female here. We should not allow outsiders to do trade unionism in the RMG sector,’ he said.

Factory owners should educate and motivate the workers on labour rights before allowing trade union activities, the association leader felt. The tripartite meeting elaborated on the possible reasons behind the labour unrest at Tongi and concluded that the owner did not follow the law while closing the factory.

State minister for labour Munnuzan Sufian, parliamentary standing committee chairman Israfil Alam, representatives from the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and leaders of Jatiya Sramik League, among others, attended the meeting.

Trade union leaders who attended the meeting said that registered body of workers’ representatives could handle the issue had trade unions been allowed there. Trade unionism would be beneficial to both owners and workers as both will then find a way out through negotiations if any dispute appears, they believed.

The 12-member committee includes five members from the owners, five from the workers and one official from the ministry concerned as a member-secretary. All concerned have been asked to name their representatives in three days.

Labour leaders and workers’ rights campaigners have been demanding introduction of trade unionism in the sector which involve over 25 lakh workers with 4500 factories mostly in Dhaka and Chittagong after labour unrest in 2006.

They believe that registered trade unions, if allowed in apparel sector, could help narrow the gap between owners and workers and prevent disputes from snowballing into violent outbursts.

But apparel industry owners so far had strong reservations about trade unionism, which, they alleged, has a chaotic history and has ruined the jute sector.


Source: New Age