Today, Brigadier General (retd) Dr. M Sakhawat Hussain, the Labour and Employment Adviser, emphasized the importance of implementing practical steps to safeguard workers’ rights and promote openness.
“We need to take effective measures to protect the rights of workers and increase transparency in labour sector,” he said.
The adviser said this as the chief guest while addressing a dialogue on “Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)” jointly organised by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) and the Center for Legal Research (CLR) of North South University (NSU) on its building here.
He continued, “Despite the growth in the export sector, some factories are failing to pay wages to workers due to financial mismanagement mainly.”
Sakhawat, who is also the shipping adviser, advocated for more financial regulation in the ready-to-wear sector in order to protect workers’ rights.
The International Labor Organization (ILO), government representatives, academics, and politicians attended the discussion and thoroughly examined the ADR system’s role in settling labor disputes in Bangladesh as well as potential revisions.
The dean of NSU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Md. Rizwanul Islam, emphasized the backlog of more than 21,000 cases in Bangladesh’s labor tribunals, stating that 75% of them had taken longer than the allotted period.
“The effective implementation of the ADR system will help reduce the pressure of court cases, minimize legal costs and resolve disputes quickly,” he added.
Nafiz Ahmed, a lecturer in the law department at NSU, stated that in order to create a well-organized ADR system that is in line with Bangladesh’s constitution and legal system, the parties must voluntarily cooperate.
According to AHM Shafiquzzaman, secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the government has made the decision to create an arbitration platform in principle.
“We will discuss this initiative with the ILO next week for its effective implementation,” he added.
The ILO’s national director for Bangladesh, Tuomo Poutiainen, emphasized the importance of having strong institutions to ensure the ADR system’s success.
“Merely passing legislation is insufficient,” he stated. To ensure that decisions are carried out successfully, there must be a strong labor ministry, an efficient ADR platform, and an effective labor court.
The discussion was led by Dr. Selim Reza, CMS Coordinator and associate professor in NSU’s Department of Political Science and Sociology.
