Tag Archives: International Labour Organisation

The expert committee of the International Labour Organisation in its observation urged the government to ensure that the Bangladesh Labour Act and the Bangladesh Labour Rules meet ILO Conventions.

An ILO expert committee has expressed its dissatisfaction over the recent labour law amendment proposals by the Bangladesh government, saying that the proposal of minor reduction in the minimum membership requirements would not contribute to the free establishment of workers’ organisations in a large number of enterprises in the country.

The outgoing year was as deadly as the previous year for the workers, as at least 1,242 workers were killed across the country in 2017 due to a lack of occupational safety in the workplace, according to a report.

After nearly seven years in the economic doldrums, Egypt is keen to bolster its clothing exports, worth some $1.4bn a year, and employ over one million Egyptians.

Rapid automation of production, closure of some noncompliant factories and the emergence of some other high-potential sectors have shrunk the total number of workers employed by the garment sector by 0.80 million over the last five years.

Technology and its new advances are a reality in today's world. One such advancement is robots with the capability to perform many human tasks. So much that robots are now being made that can replace workers.

Some 513 or one-third of the readymade garment (RMG) factories inspected under the national initiative (NI) have faced closure as they might have failed to compete in the market and comply with the required standards, including safety compliance, officials said.

Under pressure from the international community and rights groups, the government has finally agreed to ease the requirements for forming trade unions at factories in the next amendment of the labour law. At present, signatures of at least 30 percent of the workers in the factory are needed to form a trade union -- an uphill task for union leaders. Furthermore, many workers do not want to participate in the election process of trade unions out of fear of getting sacked.

The government has asked all factories from the National Initiative (NI) under the Tripartite Plan of Action to complete their remediation process by April 2018. As part of the government’s initiative to ensure RMG factory safety after the Rana Plaza disaster, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) held a meeting  with the factory owners from the NI to evaluate the progress of their remediation in making a safer workplace on Sunday.