Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

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

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention. Tripartite consultations required by the Convention. The Committee notes, with interest, that further to tripartite consultations held within the Tripartite Consultative Council (TCC), the Government ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) in March 2022. In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s intention to discuss within the TCC “important unratified Conventions” as well as ILO instruments relevant to the occupational safety and health (OSH) framework. The Government also reports that a workshop was conducted on 21 May 2023, and a tripartite consultation held on 21 August 2023, to discuss and finalize reports on the application of ratified ILO Conventions. The Government also highlights that the effectiveness of the TCC was assessed and that an action plan was developed in that regard. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in addition to the TCC, a new 19-member Tripartite Implementation and Monitoring Committee (TIMC) was established by a circular of 11 August 2021. The Government has not provided a copy of said circular and does not provide information on the mandate of the new TIMC and its tripartite composition. The Committee notes in that regard that, in its 2022 comment on the implementation by Bangladesh of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), it noted from the Government’s report on progress made on the implementation of the road map of actions to address outstanding issues in the complaint pending under article 26 of the ILO Constitution concerning the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), Convention No. 87, and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), that the TIMC’s responsibilities include the following: (1) to monitor the progress of implementation of the time-bound actions contained in the road map; and (2) to provide overall directions for the implementation of the road map. The Government further reports that the TIMC has held six meetings (on 5 and 26 September 2021, 2 February and 24 August 2022, 16 April and 10 August 2023) discussing “international labour standard issues and ILO conference agenda items”. However, the Government does not provide information on the specific content and outcome of these meetings. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that a Tripartite Working Group and a Tripartite Law Review Committee have been established and charged with discussing labour law amendments to align them with international labour standards, as suggested by the Tripartite Consultation (Activities of the International Labour Organisation) Recommendation, 1976 (No. 152) (Paragraph 5(c)). Noting the creation of a Tripartite Implementation and Monitoring Committee (TIMC), the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the 2021 circular establishing said TIMC, and to provide detailed information on its mandate, constitution and composition, including a description of how the organizations of employers and workers choose their representatives and the number of representatives from each group in the TIMC. Recalling that, in accordance with Article 5(2) of the Convention, the tripartite consultations required by the Convention must be undertaken at appropriate intervals, fixed by agreement with the workers’ and employers’ representatives, but at least once a year, the Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the date of each tripartite consultation held on the matters referred to in Article 5(1)(a)–(e) of the Convention. The Committee also reiterates its request for further detailed information on the specific content and outcome of each tripartite consultation held on matters covered by Article 5(1)(a)–(e) of the Convention, including consultations on the re-examination of the ratification of the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) and the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), which are deemed governance Conventions; of 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); and of ILO instruments relevant to the occupational safety and health (OSH) framework. In addition, the Government is requested to indicate if minutes of the tripartite consultations held on matters covered by Article 5(1)(a)–(e) are established and, if so, to the provide copies of them.

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