Editorial
Amended labour law enacted
Ensure effective implementation
AFTER much debate an amended labour law has been passed in the latest session of parliament. It goes to redeem the long pending workers' right to form collective bargaining agents at the workplace of garments industry (RMG). Of the many changes that have been made, the most significant is the right to form up to five unions without prior approval of factory management. Substantial gains have been allowed in terms of compensation and safety. Owners will now introduce group insurance schemes for workers who sustain injury while at work.
Provision for a workers' provident and welfare fund that will come out of 5 per cent profit of company earnings and building safety will be ensured as ad hoc changes to factory premise design cannot be made without prior approval of factory inspectors. Workers will receive an array of financial benefits while employed and specific guidelines have been put in place with regards to termination and compensation.
While the changes have been welcomed, the question is why we had to wait for a mounting international pressure to wake up to the anomalies of unsafe working conditions in the RMG sector. Would it not have been better to initiate reforms so as not to be labelled a country of sweat shops and averted disasters like Rana Plaza and Tazreen fashion that cost more than a thousand lives and injured many more?
Now that the law has been passed it is for all the stakeholders to make it work to benefit the industry and overall economy.
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