ITUC Bangladesh Council

29/10/2022

23/08/2022

ITUC-BC’s Statement on Demand of Tk. 300 as Daily Minimum Wage for Tea Workers

10/08/2022

ITUC-BC Women Committee at the lead of national campaign on C-190:

Leaders of the ITUC-BC Women Committee meet with the Secretary General A.R. Chowdhury Repon on 28 July 2022 for discuss about the status and outcome of ongoing national level advocacy campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 190 in Bangladesh.

21/07/2022

Building Workers Power in Khulna-2022

ITUC-BC organized Life Support Seminars (LSS) and Training of Trainers for a group of 72 grass-root level members, local leaders mainly from informal sector 19-21 July at CS Ava Center, Rupsha. The events were were implemented under the ITUC-BC/JILAF SGRA Project-2022. Secretary General of the ITUC-BC Bro. Repon Chowdhury was present at the events as chief guest and shared mission and vision of the ITUC-BC at informal sector in Bangladesh, promotion of social solidarity economy, formation of workers cooperative, economic empowerment and building of workers power in Khulna.

16/07/2022

ITUC-BC Youth Committee Meeting Held today
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A meeting of the ITUC-BC Youth Committee with Bro. Repon Chowdhury, Secretary General of the ITUC-BC held on 16 July 2022 at the U-Multipurpose Hall, Mirpur.

The meeting discussed about the plan of action by ITUC-BC Youth Committee for the upcoming International Youth day-2022; issues of building young workers power through new organizing drive at key industrial sectors; youth skills; and climate actions in 2022.

24/06/2022

ITUC-BC National Campaign on Ratification of ILO Convention 190 in Bangladesh

30 Women Union Leaders from different industrial sectors attend a daylong Training on Advocacy, Lobby and Campaign, 18 June 2022 in Dhaka

06/06/2022

ITUC-BC Statement on Container Depot Blast in Chittagong

ITUC-Bangladesh Council expressed its deep shock on Container Depot Blast in Sitakunda, Chittagong on 4 June 2022 took the lives of nearly 50 workers and left another 400 seriously injured.

ITUC-BC is very much concerned about the repeated workplace tragedy and loss of lives around the country despite massive support over the years by the international development partners in the post Rana Plaza period to the government for improve relevant national policy and regulatory tools; project based support to relevant government agencies such as DIFE, Boiler Inspectorate and Fire Service Department towards improvement of its institutional knowledge and capacity to deliver effective inspection and other services at factory and enterprise level to improve enforcement status and ensure safer workplaces for all workers and employees in the country.

ITUC-BC observed that, current health and safety improvement initiatives at national level are very much a ready-made garments sector centric and found to be ineffective. There is a serious black whole in the management of current health and safety related different national development projects and programmes , this can not be continued like this.

We believe that time has come to properly review why massive development assistance and financial support in the last 8 years provided to relevant government agencies and to employers on this particular issue is not really contributing to improving the national image in this regard. We must collectively find-out appropriate remedies for it.

ITUC-BC demanded the government for proper investigation of this tragedy, ensure acceptable financial compensation to victim families and long term medical treatment support and rehabilitation plan for all injured workers along with due legal justice.

We are also demanding the government to fulfill its obligation on implementation of the Bangladesh Road Map as presented in ILO towards changing the workplace safety situation in the country.

01/06/2022

Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy through Support Grass-Roots Activities for informal worker（SGRA) in Bangladesh

The 1st Round Table Meeting of SGRA held on 31st May 2022 at Asia Hotel Resort, Dhaka as organized by organized by ITUC-Bangladesh Council.

Central leaders of the ITUC-BC, representatives from Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) and Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE), Bangladesh Employers Federation (BEF) as well as the Project Implementation Coordinators (PIC) attended the meeting in person . On the hand, the President and other senior officials from the Japan International Labour Foundation (JILAF) attend the meeting online from Tokyo. The meeting discussed and finalized the Work Plan of SGRA project for 2022 . Various activities under the project will be implemented at Khulna, Chittatong, Bogra and Dhaka for this year. It is one of a flagship project at informal sector implementing by ITUC-BC / JILAF since 2012 in partnership with the government , ILO and BEF.

30/05/2022

Media Release
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ITUC-BC priorities for the 2022 HLPF Ministerial Declaration

The ITUC-Bangladesh Council in a special letter on today to the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nation called-up the government to support in making a New Social Contract a reality in the SDG Decade of Action, putting the emphasis on achieving sustainable job creation; scaling up social protection systems; decent wages; achieving and promoting gender equality, including equal pay for equal work; and access to lifelong learning and the use of social dialogue – all at the forefront of the 2022 HLPF Ministerial Declaration [https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf ]. A.R. Chowdhury Repon, Secretary General of ITUC-BC said “we support the UN secretary-general’s call for a “renewed social contract” in his report “Our Common Agenda”, and his vision of a new model for global governance based on a reinvigorated and inclusive multilateralism. For trade unions, the New Social Contract is a foundation for our common security in the face of massive inequality, the climate crisis, and the pandemic, all in a time of escalating conflicts. The contract needs to respond to six worker demands: the creation of climate-friendly jobs with just transition; a labour protection floor for all workers; universal social protection; minimum living wages and equal pay; equality in income, gender and ethnicity; and a rights-based development model achieved through the SDGs and multilateral reform”.

https://www.ituc-csi.org/timefor8

26/05/2022

Towards Ratification of ILO Convention 190 in Bangladesh:

ITUC-BC Women Committee at the lead of the national campaign for ending gender based violence and harassment at workplaces | Planning and Strategy Meeting , 25 May 2022, U-Multipurpose Hall, Mirpur, Dhaka

https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C190

15/05/2022

Media Release
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ITUC-BC called to government and employer organization supporting agenda for recognition of healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right by ILO at the upcoming ILC

The ITUC-Bangladesh Council today (14 May 2022) called the government and employer organization supporting Agenda
for recognition of healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right by ILO at the upcoming 110th session of the ILC
(International Labor Conference) as going to start from 30 May- 10 June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.
A big tripartite delegation from Bangladesh side as headed by State Minister Begum Monnujan Sufian, Ministry of Labour and Employment expected to attend at that event. On behalf of the workers side the ITUC-BC in a separate letter addressed to the State Minister Begum Monnujan Sufian and Mr. Farooq Ahmed, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Employers Federation (BEF) called to unanimously support from the Bangladesh side to the agenda for recognition of healthy and safe workplaces as a fundamental right by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) at the upcoming ILC, 2022 (30 May -10 June 2022). The ITUC-BC Secretary General Repon Chowdhury said ““every year thousands of workers get killed in different sectors of Bangladesh mainly caused by lack of corporate accountability, negligence of the employers, low enforcement of existing labour law and lack of credible labour inspection services as well as low respect of occupational health and safety rights at workplaces. On 24 April 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed five garment factories, killed at least 1,132 innocent workers and injured more than 2,500 is a constant reminder for the country to establish rule of labour law and safety and health rights for the worker. Still Bangladesh has not ratified any of the key OSH related ILO conventions such as Convention number 155 or 187. The inclusion of safe and health as the fifth fundamental principles and rights at work by ILO would allow the occupational safety and health the same level of respect, prominence and promotion as the other four categories (freedom of association and collective bargaining, elimination of forced labor, abolition of child labor and non-discrimination). I believe making occupational health and safety a fundamental right at work would clearly contribute to reducing the toll of work-related death, injury, occupational disease and illness, development of sustainable workplaces, economy and better national image".