TF Local Desk
RMG industry is the key driver of Bangladesh national economy. To continue the RMG export growth up Bangladesh has started amending its labor laws under pressure from the International Labor Organization and the European Union. The amendment may be done by the end of August. Some basic changes will be made. The worker percentage needed to form a trade union in a factory may be brought down.
Current law, which was hurriedly amended in July 2013 three months after the Rana Plaza building collapse, requires collection of signatures of 30 per cent of the workers in a factory to form a trade union. The suggested amendment says, if a factory has 500 workers, 30 per cent must sign up for a trade union; if the number of workers is 5000, about 10 to 15 per cent of them need to give their signatures. But not more than three unions in a factory will be allowed although the international community demands a higher number.
The country is also working to amend the labor law of the export processing zones. The EU has already warned Bangladesh of suspension of the GSP under the EU’s Everything But Arms scheme if labor rights are not improved further.
