US welcomes labor law amendment

The United States has welcomed the amendment to Bangladesh's labor law. The US Embassy in Dhaka welcomed it in a message on Monday (November 24).

The message mentioned that the United States welcomes the interim government's commitment to improving international labor standards through the Bangladesh Labor Law Amendment Ordinance-2025.

It also said that this amendment is an important step in the journey to ensure equal opportunities for workers and businesses in Bangladesh and the United States. We hope that the next elected parliament will quickly turn this ordinance into law.

Earlier, the government issued the Bangladesh Labor Law Amendment Ordinance-2025 on Tuesday (November 18). Earlier, the amendment was approved in principle and finally in the meeting of the Advisory Council on October 23.

According to the ordinance, if an organization has 20 to 300 workers, it will require the consent of 20 people to form a trade union. Apart from this, in the case of an institution with 301 to 500 workers, 40 people will be required, in an institution with 501 to 1,500 workers, 100 people, in a factory with 1,501 to 3,000 workers, 300 people, and if there are more than 3,001 workers, 400 people will be required. More than 5 trade unions cannot be formed in an institution. Until now, a maximum of three could be formed.

Usually, workers are forced to go on strike to achieve various demands, including wage increases. To prevent their movement, industrial owners often dismiss workers and blacklist them. Then it becomes difficult for workers to get jobs in new factories. The amended Labor Law Ordinance prohibits the issue of blacklisting workers.

The ordinance states that if any worker or union member is terminated for any reason, a notice cannot be issued by blacklisting them or including them in the database. Apart from this, the establishment of labor organizations under the control of the owners or owners' organizations cannot be encouraged. Officials of existing trade unions cannot be dismissed and encouraged to establish other trade unions in a biased manner.

Although the Labor Act has so far mentioned the formation of a provident fund for the benefit of workers, it was not mandatory. However, this time it has been made mandatory. The ordinance states that the employer will have to form a provident fund for the workers only if there are 100 permanent workers. However, alternative arrangements have also been mentioned.

If the employees of an organization express their interest in participating in the National Pension Authority's Universal Pension Scheme Pragati, the employer will be exempted from forming a provident fund. In this scheme, the employer will contribute 50 percent and the worker 50 percent. However, if any member does not want to remain in the scheme, the employer must inform the employer in writing. In that case, the employer will not be obliged to contribute 50 percent.