Labour Governance in Bangladesh: Democratic Practices and Deficits

Abstract

The current state of labour governance in Bangladesh is characterized by weak enforcement and non-compliance of labour law provisions, violation of workers’ rights, dysfunctional bipartite and tripartite institutional mechanisms, absence of workers’ participation, and misrepresentation. The question I address in this dissertation is whether the existing labour governance ensures rule of law, fundamental rights and freedom, and provides scope for workers’ participation and representation; and whether the workers’ are able to exercise their fundamental rights democratically. I explore that the regulatory framework incorporates the principles of rule of law, includes workers’ fundamental rights and freedom, and devises a number of institutional mechanisms for workers’ participation and representation. Still, the labour laws lack some important principles and obligations towards social protection and wellbeing of the workers, exclude some categories of workers from and impose restrictions on—the exercise of democratic rights, and hardly provide any scope for workers the right to opinion and expression in matters that govern their daily working lives. This paradox of the regulatory framework rather inhibits than promotes democratic practices. The study finds that the democratic provisions of the labour laws are hardly enforced by the system of labour administration and labour inspection. I argue that this non-execution of democratic provisions not only deprives the workers of their rights they are entitled to but also refrains them from the institutional mechanisms they are supposed to participate and represent. The dissertation shows that the current unstable state of labour governance is partly due to the insufficient democratic provisions in the regulatory framework and partly due to the non-execution and violation of labour law provisions by the state and non-state actors. Unless the practice of democracy is promoted through proper enforcement of labour laws or otherwise the deficits are not removed, all initiatives will fail to democratize labour governance and to achieve better labour and industrial relations.