Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Article 1 of the Convention. The same rights of association and combination for all those engaged in agriculture as for industrial workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that according to the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 (BLA), all agricultural workers engaged in agricultural farms were entitled to the right of association under the BLA except those working in small farms where less than ten workers were normally employed and were normally run by individual owners with the aid of members of these families without employing any hired labour. The Committee requested the Government to indicate if workers employed in farms with less than ten workers were allowed to affiliate to a trade union at branch of activity level. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that following the amendment of the BLA in 2013, agricultural workers engaged in agricultural farms are covered by the Act and have the right to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining, but that the BLA does not apply to those farms where less than five workers are normally employed and those who are mostly run by individual owners with the aid of members of the families and without employing workers for wage (section 1(4)(n) and (p)). While noting that the amendment of the BLA reduced from ten to five the minimum number of workers required for farms to be covered by the Act and for its workers to benefit from freedom of association and collective bargaining, the Committee recalls that, under Article 1, all those engaged in agriculture should enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether workers in small farms consisting of less than five workers can, in law and practice, group together with other workers to form a trade union or affiliate to existing workers’ organizations in order to fully enjoy the rights of association and combination recognized to industrial workers.

Recalling its concerns under the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), with regard to Rule 167(4) of the Bangladesh Labour Rules, which appears to introduce a new minimum membership requirement of 400 workers to establish an agricultural trade union – a requirement that is not set out in the BLA – the Committee recalls that, given the special circumstances of the agricultural sector, national laws or regulations should not establish minimum membership requirements which could impede the establishment of organizations of workers in this sector. The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether Rule 167(4) establishes a minimum membership requirement to form an agricultural trade union and to provide information on its effects in practice and its impact on the right of agricultural workers to form trade union organizations of their own choosing.

Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, having noted the statistical information provided by the Government on the number of existing trade unions in the agricultural sector, the Committee requested the Government to provide additional information on the number of collective agreements concluded in the agricultural sector. The Committee notes the updated statistics on the number of existing trade unions (jute: 189; tobacco: 62; sugar: 15; fisheries: 51; rubber: 44; tea: 8; and dairy: 2), as well as the Government’s indication that, through bipartite or tripartite negotiations, trade unions and associations of agricultural workers conclude agreements every two years concerning terms and conditions of work, welfare facilities, insurance, health, safety and other matters. The Committee requests the Government to provide available statistics on the number of collective agreements concluded in the agricultural sector, the type of activity concerned and the number of workers covered.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

The Committee notes that the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 was repealed and replaced by the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 (BLA). The Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that the agricultural workers are mostly self-employed and according to the BLA, all agricultural workers engaged in agricultural farms are entitled to the right of association except those small farms where less than ten workers are normally employed and are normally run by individual owners with the aid of members of these families without employing any hired labour (section 1(4)(n)(p) BLA). The Committee once again recalls that, under Article 1, all those engaged in agriculture should enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, which is particularly important in countries where a large proportion of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report if workers employed in farms with less than ten workers are allowed to affiliate to a branch of activity trade union.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

In its previous comments, recalling that all those engaged in agriculture – including those not employed in the organized sector – enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, the Committee requested the Government to provide concrete information on the number of existing trade unions in the agricultural sector and the number of collective agreements concluded.

The Committee notes that the Government provides statistics in its report regarding the number of existing trade unions in the agricultural sector (jute: 161; tobacco: 68; sugar: 17; fisheries: 6; rubber: 24; tea: 10) for a total of around 282,000 members. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information in its next report on the number of collective agreements concluded in the agricultural sector.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that the provisions of the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969, applied only to agricultural workers employed in the organized sectors, namely agricultural farms, such as the tea gardens, sugar mills and other agricultural farms run on a commercial basis, and that agricultural workers including self-employed persons, were not covered by the IRO.

The Committee emphasized that, under Article 1 of the Convention, all those engaged in agriculture should enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, which is particularly important in countries where a large proportion of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, and that ratifying Members undertake to “repeal any statutory or other provision restricting such rights in the case of those engaged in agriculture”.

The Committee takes note that the Government indicates that the existing law does not prohibit individual agricultural workers from forming associations. Presently, there are now associations of agriculture workers, boatmen, fishermen, handloom and textile workers in the country. Even non-farm agricultural workers organize themselves and apply for getting registered under the IRO, and they are then given such registration. Therefore, the Government does not feel it necessary to modify the existing legal provisions in this regard.

The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all those engaged in agriculture – including those not employed in the organized sector – enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers and requests the Government to provide concrete information on the number of existing trade unions in the agricultural sector and the number of collective agreements concluded.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

The Committee notes with regret that no additional information has been provided and that despite its numerous requests, the legislation remains unchanged.

In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that the provisions of the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969, applied only to agricultural workers employed in the organized sectors, namely agricultural farms, such as the tea gardens, sugar mills and other agricultural farms run on a commercial basis, and that agricultural workers including self-employed persons, were not covered by the IRO. As a result, the labour law is only applicable to 17 per cent of the working force in the agricultural sector and there is no legal status for 83 per cent of the labour force in the agricultural sector.

The Committee emphasizes that, under Article 1 of the Convention, all those engaged in agriculture should enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, which is particularly important in countries where a large proportion of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, and that ratifying Members undertake to "repeal any statutory or other provision restricting such rights in the case of those engaged in agriculture".

The Government had previously indicated in its report that workers not covered by the IRO enjoy the right of association through cooperative societies under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1940, for improving welfare, economic and social development. The Government added that the farmers of Bangladesh were not organized, landholdings were divided into very small units and, as such, legally based trade unions for agriculture workers were practically impossible.

The Committee urges the Government to modify the existing legislation concerning agricultural workers to ensure that all those engaged in agriculture enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers and to repeal any statutory or other provisions restricting such rights.

It recalls that ILO technical assistance is available in this respect should the Government so desire.

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

The Committee recalls that the provisions of the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969, apply only to agricultural workers employed in the organized sectors, namely agricultural farms, such as the tea gardens, sugar mills and other agricultural farms run on a commercial basis, and that agricultural workers including self-employed persons, are not covered by the IRO. As a result, the existing labour law is only applicable to 17 per cent of the working force in the agricultural sector.

In its previous observation, the Committee had requested the Government to modify the existing legislation concerning agricultural workers to ensure they enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, and to repeal any statutory or other provisions restricting such rights.

The Committee recalls that under Article 1 of the Convention, all those engaged in agriculture should enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, which is particularly important in countries where a large proportion of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, and that ratifying members undertake to "repeal any statutory or other provision restricting such rights in the case of those engaged in agriculture".

The Government indicates in its report that workers not covered by the IRO enjoy the right of association through cooperative societies under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1940, for improving welfare, economic and social development. The Government adds that the Land Reform Ordinance, 1984, reformed the law relating to land tenure, holding and transfer with the aim of, inter alia, ensuring a better relationship between landowners and bargadars (share-croppers); section 12(1) of that Ordinance, for instance, sets the sharing percentages of barga lands produce between owners and bargadars. The Government states that due to the nature of agriculture in the country (disorganized farmers; landholding divided into numerous small units), formulating a legal basis of a trade union for agricultural workers is practically impossible.

The Committee takes note of this information and, reminding the Government that it may avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office, asks it once again to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that all those engaged in agriculture enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, and to keep it informed in its next report.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2001.]

Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

The Committee takes note of the Government's report. It also notes, the comments supplied by the Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF) received in June 1999, according to which no law has yet been enacted for agricultural workers in relation to the present Convention. BAFLF states that in 1992 the former Government established the National Labour Law Commission to analyse, add, alter, dissolve and frame labour legislation, but that nothing has been mentioned in respect of the formation of trade unions by agricultural workers. As a result, no recommendation has been made by the Commission. BAFLF also states that the Government formed a "Review Committee" to review the recommendations of the law commission but that nothing was mentioned about agricultural workers. In fact, the existing labour law is only applicable to 17 per cent of the working force and there is no legal status for 83 per cent of the labour force in the agricultural sector. According to the Government's report of 1991, the total working force is 51.2 million out of which 42.5 million are agricultural workers. It is impossible to develop agriculture and increase agricultural products by keeping such a large number of the working force unorganized.

The Committee recalls that in 1990 the Bangladesh Employers' Association had indicated that the provisions of the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969, applied only to agricultural workers employed in the organized sectors, namely agricultural farms, such as the tea gardens and sugar mills, and other agricultural farms run on a commercial basis and that only these enjoyed the right of association and collective bargaining and that the agricultural workers including self-employed persons were not covered by the IRO. The Government concurs with this opinion and in its previous reports had stressed that the bulk of the agricultural workers other than plantations workers, including self-employed farmers, sharecroppers and smallholders, were not covered by this law.

The Committee has also taken note that the definition of "industrial establishment" (section 2) in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, as modified, which expressly includes plantations, i.e. any estate which is maintained for the purpose of growing cinchona, rubber, coffee or tea only applies to plantations on which 25 or more persons are employed for that purpose and thus smaller plantations are not covered by the Act.

In the light of the foregoing development, the Committee considers that there is an important gap in the legislation and the Government should take appropriate measures to modify the existing legislation or enact new laws in relation to those engaged in agriculture to ensure they enjoy the right to organize, in order to comply with its obligation to respect and fully apply this Convention.

The Committee asks the Government to provide in its next report detailed information on any legislative and other measures taken or contemplated to ensure specifically that those engaged in agriculture enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, and to repeal any statutory or other provisions restricting such rights.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2000.]

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

The Committee notes the general information repeated in the Government's recent reports under this Convention, as well as the comments received from the Bangladesh Employers' Association pointing out that, while the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969, does not cover self-employed agricultural workers, there is no legal restriction on the right of association of this category of workers.

In this connection, the Committee would recall that in its 1979 observation it had requested the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice (number of existing trade unions, number of collective agreements, etc.). As this request for details as to how all agricultural workers enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers was only met in the 1980 government report, the Committee would again ask the Government to supply an update on Article 1, giving in particular details on the nature, structure and numbers of organisations existing for self-employed agricultural workers, sharecroppers, tenant farmers, etc.