Interim Report - REPORT_NO384, March 2018

1. 129. The Committee last examined this case at its May–June 2017 meeting, when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 382nd Report, paras 149–176, approved by the Governing Body at its 330th Session].
2. 130. The Government provided its observations in a communication dated 10 October 2017.
3. 131. Bangladesh has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 132. At its May–June 2017 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 382nd Report, para. 176]:
   • (a) The Committee expects that the important technical cooperation programme currently ongoing in the country will assist the Government to achieve the recommendations below and that it will have full information in this regard for its next examination.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all anti-union acts alleged in this case, including those allegedly perpetrated by the police and the 2012 murder of a trade unionist – allegations which raise serious concern – are fully investigated and that their perpetrators are held accountable, so as to avoid occurrence of such serious acts in the future, and to inform it of any developments in this regard. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of ongoing judicial proceedings relating to the alleged anti-union retaliation in the cases of the Sramik Karmochari Union and the union at enterprise (d), as well as the measures taken to ensure their implementation by the employers. The Committee also expects the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure that the police and other state authorities are not used as an instrument of intimidation and harassment of workers and that all future allegations of anti-union violence reported to the police are properly and expeditiously investigated in order to avoid impunity. The Committee encourages the Government, in collaboration with the social partners and the ILO, to institute training on human rights, civil liberties and trade union rights so as to assist the police and other state authorities in better understanding the limits of their role in respect of freedom of association rights and to ensure the full and legitimate exercise by workers of these rights and liberties in a climate free from fear. The Committee further invites the Government to provide full particulars in relation to the steps taken to fully address complaints of anti-union discrimination, including by means of a publicly accessible database, to the CEACR.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to take all necessary measures to facilitate the registration process so as to ensure that it is a simple formality, which should not restrict the right of workers to establish organizations without previous authorization. The Committee requests the Government to report progress on this issue to the CEACR, to which it refers this aspect of the case and which has, for a number of years, closely followed developments in this regard.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the procedure available to challenge trade union registration is not misused so as ultimately to become a tool for impeding, or significantly delaying, workers’ exercise of their freedom of association rights and that any future allegations of union-busting are fully and expeditiously investigated, and to keep it informed of any developments in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of any pending proceedings relating to cancellation of trade union registrations in the abovementioned factories.
   • (e) The Committee firmly trusts that all government entities and representatives will refrain from publicly expressing hostility or antagonism towards trade unionists so as to contribute to an environment conducive to the full development of trade union rights.
   • (f) The Committee expects the Government to take the necessary measures, including legislative, to ensure that workers in EPZs can fully benefit from freedom of association rights and requests the Government to report progress on this matter to the CEACR, to which it refers this aspect of the case.
   • (g) The Committee draws the special attention of the Governing Body to the extreme seriousness and urgent nature of this case.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 133. In its communication dated 10 October 2017, the Government indicates that the police is a law enforcement agency committed to maintaining law and order and providing a sense of security to people, and is not concerned with any internal issues or prevailing practices regarding trade unions in garment factories. When handling situations of agitation, violence and crisis in the industrial sector, which often result in blocked roads and vandalism of factories and thus substantially impair economic activities of the country, the police has to act according to the law in order to protect public and private property and restore normality. If the law enforcement agencies interrogate people involved in or responsible for the violent acts, this is done in an extremely cautious manner to ensure that no one is harassed in the name of exercising law and the objective is in no way to harass trade union leaders or disrupt trade union activities in the country. The Government also states that there is no record of harassment of trade unionists for participation in trade union activities and that measures are being taken to enhance the capacity of the police.
2. 134. The Government also indicates that the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA) contains specific provisions to protect trade union activities and that anti-union discrimination and unfair labour practices in any form constitute a violation of the law and are subject to legal actions. Different authorities exist under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) to ensure compliance with the labour law and to introduce effective grievance redress mechanisms and every aggrieved worker has the right to file complaints to the Directorate of Labour for remedial action against management for anti-union activities or unfair labour practices. The Government further states that with the support of technical cooperation programmes ongoing in the country, several remarkable achievements were made in recent years: development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a public database for anti-union discrimination and unfair labour practices to facilitate the handling and investigation of such allegations and to make the process more transparent and publicly available (in August 2017, 76 cases of anti-union discrimination or unfair labour practices were available in the database, out of which 51 were settled and 25 ongoing); the launch of a helpline for workers from the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Ashulia to facilitate lodging of labour-related complaints (as of September 2017, 2,068 complaints were received through the helpline, out of which 501 were settled); intensive training programmes for labour officials, employers, workers and judges on anti-union discrimination, unfair labour practices, arbitration and conciliation, as well as grievance handling; and development of a system to prioritize, record and forward labour disputes to the relevant authority, as well as to update statistics to improve transparency and governance in dealing with complaints.
3. 135. With regard to the 2012 murder of a trade unionist, the Government informs that in October 2012, the investigation was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police which determined two persons as principal suspects and established the identity of one of them. As the suspects had absconded, the Government declared a reward of 100,000 Bangladeshi taka (BDT) (US$1,400) for the apprehension of the person whose identity had been established. The police confiscated his property and served notice on him in leading national daily papers on two occasions. The Government also brought the case under the ambit of “sensitive cases” which will ensure its regular monitoring and an expeditious trial: the charge sheet against the identified suspect has been submitted, the case is under trial in absentia and nine out of 25 witnesses have been examined. The Government hopes that the case will be disposed of very soon.
4. 136. The Government further provides statistics and general information on trade union registration, as well as detailed information regarding the measures taken to facilitate the process and improve its transparency: creation of an online registration system to submit applications for registration; adoption of SOPs setting time limits for each step of the registration process; establishment of a public database on trade union registration containing relevant information on the submission and resolution of registration applications, including reasons for refusal and cancellation; upgrade of the Department of Labour; and conducting of awareness-raising and capacity-building activities for workers and employers on social dialogue. The Government also informs about the withdrawal of the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Labour Act, 2016 (ELA) from Parliament in order to further align it with core ILO Conventions, the tripartite consultations that took place to prepare a new draft and its submission to the 2017 session of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
5. 137. Finally, the Government states that it is committed to improving industrial relations in a transparent manner through social dialogue and in line with national legislation and international labour standards. In order to create a conducive environment at the workplace and to address labour dispute issues, the Government has established a secretarial support unit within the MOLE both for the National Tripartite Consultative Council and the RMG Tripartite Consultative Council. According to the Government, this demonstrates its willingness to ensure labour rights.
6. 138. The Government informs that its report has been provided both to this Committee and the Committee of Experts.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 139. The Committee notes that this case concerns allegations of systematic violation of freedom of association rights, including through repeated acts of anti-union retaliation, arbitrary denial of union registration and union-busting activities, as well as lack of law enforcement and the Government’s public hostility towards trade unions. The complainant also denounces non-compliance of the new draft Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Labour Act with freedom of association and collective bargaining principles.
2. 140. With regard to the allegations of severe and at times violent anti-union retaliation by factory management and the police (recommendation (b)), the Committee notes the Government’s indication that even when the police conduct an interrogation for violent acts committed in the industrial sector, such an interrogation does not aim at harassing trade union leaders or disrupting trade union activities, and that measures are being taken to enhance the capacity of the police. While further noting the detailed information provided by the Government on the steps taken to improve the handling and investigation of anti-union discrimination complaints in the future, the Committee regrets that the Government does not provide any concrete information on the judicial proceedings relating to allegations of anti union retaliation that are ongoing in the present case. The Committee also observes that despite a detailed account of numerous allegations of anti-union retaliation provided in the original complaint, the Government affirms that there is no record of harassment of trade unionists for participation in trade union activities. Recalling in this regard that a genuinely free and independent trade union movement can only develop where fundamental human rights are respected and that the Government has the duty to defend a social climate where respect for the law reigns as the only way of guaranteeing respect for and protection of individuals [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 33–34], the Committee requests the Government once again to take the necessary measures to ensure that, where this has not yet been done, all anti-union acts alleged in this case, including those allegedly perpetrated by the police, are fully investigated and that any future allegations of this nature, even when later resolved through bilateral agreements, are systematically and properly investigated and prosecuted so as to avoid their repetition. The Committee also requests the Government once again to provide updated information on the judicial proceedings relating to the alleged anti-union retaliation in the cases of the Sramik Karmochari Union and the union at enterprise (d) [see 382nd Report, para. 153] and trusts that these cases will be concluded without delay. The Committee further expects the Government to continue to conduct comprehensive training activities in order to assist the police in better understanding the limits of their role in respect of freedom of association rights and to ensure the full and legitimate exercise by workers of these rights and liberties in a climate free from fear.
3. 141. The Committee further notes the developments described by the Government regarding the ongoing trial for the 2012 murder of a trade unionist, in particular that one suspect is being tried in absentia and that the case has been brought under the ambit of sensitive cases so as to ensure its regular monitoring and expeditious trial. Taking due note of this information and recalling that the incident which gave rise to the case occurred approximately six years ago, the Committee expects the trial to be conducted without further delay and requests the Government to keep it informed of its outcome.
4. 142. With regard to the allegation that the procedure available to challenge trade union registration is regularly misused by factory management to halt trade union activities (recommendation (d)), the Committee observes that while the Government provides detailed general information on the registration process and on the measures it considers will bring more transparency to the process, it does not address the issue of concrete attempts by factory management to cancel union registrations alleged in this case. Regretting that no specific information has been provided in this regard and recalling the severe implications the alleged requests for cancellation of registration can have on the functioning of trade unions, the Committee requests the Government once again to provide detailed information on the outcome of the proceedings for cancellation of trade union registration in enterprises (a), (l) and (n) [see 382nd Report, paras 153, 157 and 158]. The Committee also expects the Government to take any necessary measures to ensure that the procedure available to challenge trade union registrations which had been properly granted will not be misused to halt trade union activities in the future.
5. 143. Concerning the allegations of public hostility or antagonism towards trade unionists (recommendation (e)), the Committee notes the Government’s commitment to improving industrial relations though social dialogue and in a transparent manner, as well as its indication that a secretarial support unit was established within the Ministry of Labour and Employment to address issues relating to labour disputes. Taking due note of this information, the Committee trusts that the measures envisaged and taken will contribute to an environment conducive to the full development of trade union rights and will prevent any future occurrence of public hostility and antagonism towards trade unionists.
6. 144. Finally, the Committee recalls that it had previously referred the legislative issues concerning registration of trade unions and freedom of association rights in export processing zones (recommendations (c) and (f)) to the Committee of Experts. While taking note of the Government’s detailed reply in this regard, the Committee observes that the same information has also been provided to the Committee of Experts, which examined the relevant issues in detail in its latest report. In view of these circumstances, the Committee will not pursue the examination of these legislative aspects of the case.