‘It is the responsibility of the government to organize participatory social dialogue’

Effective social dialogues are crucial for the recovery of the local labour market amid the Covid-19 pandemic, experts said on Saturday.

They also said that trade union policy and strategies should focus on the world of work, particularly highlighting the workers of those who are organized and unorganized.

Their observations were made at a virtual dialogue titled “Recovery of the Labour Market during Covid-19: Role of Trade Union”, jointly organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS.)

The dialogue aimed at revisiting the role of trade unions in Bangladesh during the pandemic period to identify a set of policy proposals for influencing the process of sustainable recovery of the labour market.

The labour market mostly consists of various worker groups, including regular, temporary, and casual workers, as well as small-scale employers, particularly those self-employed and involved in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), retailing, construction, road, commerce, tourism, and other informal sectors.

Rebounding and recovery of the world of work, particularly those of workers and employers, have been supported mainly by different public policies and interventions, said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of CPD, and Nazrul Islam Khan, secretary general and executive director of BILS, during their opening remark.

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Different tripartite discussions and negotiations undertaken during this crisis period had ensured limited success in favour of workers and MSMEs, to cope with the risks, rebounding and recovery from the crisis, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of CPD.

Based on the national social safety net strategies, trade unions need to identify various support measures required for workers and their families under the provisions of social security for the working-age people, socially excluded groups, a food transfer programme, protection for disabilities and affordable healthcare, he also said.

The government should focus on providing social safety net to labours in both formal and informal sectors, said Tuomo Poutiainen, country director of International Labour Organization (ILO) office in Dhaka.

Shirin Akhter, MP and member of the parliamentary standing committee on primary and mass education, called for increasing the number of enlisted organized labours.

Tripartite coordination is vital to reduce communication gap among stakeholders, said Syed Manzur Elahi, chairman at Apex Group, former adviser to the caretaker government and treasurer of CPD.

He opined that it is the responsibility of the government to organize participatory social dialogue.