Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1979)

Effective tripartite consultations required by the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in September 2013 in reply to its previous observation. The Government reiterates that it has constituted the Tripartite Consultative Council (TCC) which is composed of 60 members having equal representation from employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations and Government. The Committee notes with interest that at the TCC meeting held on 30 July 2013, the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), were recommended for ratification. The Committee invites the Government to provide a report containing more detailed information on the effective consultations held by the Tripartite Consultative Council on the matters relating to international labour standards covered by the Convention. It also invites the Government to provide in its next report information on the progress made towards ratification of Convention No. 185 and the MLC, 2006 (Article 5(1)(c) of the Convention). The Committee also invites the Government to re-examine some other unratified Conventions with the social partners, in particular the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), which is deemed a fundamental Convention; the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), and the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), which are deemed governance Conventions; and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), whose ratification would result in the immediate denunciation of the Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107).

Unratified Conventions on occupational safety and health. Following the tragic events resulting from the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013 and the Tazreen factory fire in November 2012, the Committee notes the National Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh signed on 25 July 2013 and notes the ILO programmes developed with the tripartite partners. It recalls that in the Tripartite Statement of Commitment, adopted in Dhaka on 15 January 2013, the social partners in Bangladesh expressed the need to respect and promote the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187), the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), and other relevant standards such as the Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121). The Committee invites the Government and the social partners to take advantage of the tripartite consultation procedures required by the Convention to achieve progress towards the application and ratification of the instruments of the ILO relevant to the framework for occupational safety and health.