IBC seeks changes in proposed trade union registration rules

IndustriaLL Bangladesh Council (IBC) demanded changes in the proposed trade union registration requirements recommending 10 to 300 workers' representation depending on the size of the factories.

Its other proposals included six months maternity leaves for all establishments, 30 days notice period for resignation by workers and one month's wage for each completed year of service.

IBC former secretary general Salauddin Swapan made the demands at a press conference held at the National Press Club in the city on Monday.

He said that the government has recently revised the trade union registration threshold which will be included in the amendments to the labour law. If it comes into effect, it would make the registration more complex. He proposed that 10 workers of factory having 20 to 50 workers should be allowed to form a union.

He proposed trade unions with 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100 workers for factories having workers 51 to 200, 201 to 400, 401 to 500, 501 to 1000 and 1001 to 3000 workers respectively.

Regarding the Collective Bargaining Agents, he stated that in establishments with a single union, the existing CBA would remain in effect, while factories having multiple unions, the CBA would be the elected ones with highest number of votes through election.

Earlier on September 28, at a meeting of the Tripartite Consultative Committee, chaired by Labour and Employment Adviser M Sakhawat Hussain, the revised decision was made in the presence of representatives from the government, workers, and employers.

According to the meeting sources, 50 workers could form a union in factories having 50 to 500 workers and the representation would be 100 for factories having 501 to 1000 workers. Factories with 1,001-3,000 workers would require 300 workers' representations and those with more than 3,000 workers will require 400 representatives. The requirement for factories with less than 50 workers has yet to be finalised.

Earlier on August 26, the TCC meeting decided that a trade union could be formed with the signatures of 20 workers, along with allowing a maximum limit of five unions at a factory.

Munni_fe@yahoo.com