The country director of International Labour Organisation in Bangladesh, Tuomo Poutiainen, on Sunday urged the government to implement the labour reform roadmap and the national action plan to address the post-graduation challenges and to resolve the complaint lodged against the country for its non-observance of three core labour conventions.
At a national level dialogue on decent work held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital Dhaka, Poutiainen said that Bangladesh would reach a major milestone in its development journey as it would graduate from the least developed country status in 2026.
‘While this is a testament to Bangladesh progress, it also presents new challenges, the potential loss of trade privileges and stricter compliance requirements in the global market competitiveness,’ he said.
The dialogue ‘Promoting decent work agenda to advance social justice’ was jointly organised by the foreign ministry, labour ministry and ILO.
The ILO country director in his remarks said that the implementation of the labour reform roadmaps and the national action plan was crucial to addressing the post-graduation challenges and effectively also resolving an Article 26 complaint which remained active in the ILO system, he said.
Workers’ organisations from Italy, Japan, South Africa, Pakistan and Brazil made a complaint under Article 26 to the International Labour Conference in 2019 on the non-observance of convention 81 on labour inspection, 87 on freedom of association and protection of the right to organise and convention 98 on right to organise and collective bargaining by the government of Bangladesh.
Poutiainen recommended establishing priorities centring on the amendments of Bangladesh Labour Act in line with international labour standards and continuously building the quality institutions of labour inspection, dispute resolutions and labour courts.
‘As we look to future, let us renew our dedication to the cause of social justice. Let us strive to ensure that economic growth is synonymous with the enhancement of living standards and the improvement of working conditions for all and create employment opportunities for youth and women,’ the ILO country director said.
Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen underscored the need to move away from the large informality that still characterises the economy of Bangladesh.
‘We should redouble our efforts towards enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of our workers to take full advantage of our demographic dividend,’ he said.
Regarding evidence-based national wage policy, the foreign secretary said that the government had taken initiative to formulate the national minimum wage policy.
The policy could be a concise document stipulating certain criteria and modalities for determining minimum wages in different sectors in response to the evolving socioeconomic circumstances, he said.
State minister for labour Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury said that Bangladesh promised to uphold labour rights and social justice to the ILO.
He said that ensuring evidence-based national wage policy and workplace safety was crucial to the growth of the economy of Bangladesh in a sustainable way.
Labour secretary Md Mahbub Hossain chaired the opening season of the national dialogue.
In a panel discussion on global accelerators for jobs, Bangladesh Employers Federation president Ardashir Kabir said hundreds of economic zones are coming up, which would create millions of jobs, but there are some constraints.
For the implementation of economic zones, rule of law has to be established to ensure a level-playing field.
‘We must settle contracts with foreign investors within three to six months, it should not take 17 years,’ he said.
Regarding skill development, Ardashir said that reskilling and up-skilling were needed for thousands of boys and girls who are completing graduation in political science, history and sociology every year.
The National Skill Development Authority should be the central authority for up-skilling, but the NSDA actually has been stagnant for a long time, he said.
‘We should turn informal workers into formal ones to improve their living conditions and working conditions,’ said Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, chairperson of the National Coordination Committee for Workers Education.
If workers can organise themselves properly under trade union, they will be able to fight for fair wages and living wages, he said.