What will it take to deliver decent work in the global South? Experiences from Bangladesh and Zambia
Seminar Update
This Decent Work and Labour Standards Forum (DWLSF) seminar held in on 13 January at SOAS brought together around 45 participants from trade unions, NGOs, academic institutions, businesses, government and consultancies to listen to presentations from guest speakers and discuss how they could assist DFID with strengthening its efforts in contributing to delivering decent work in Bangladesh, Zambia and other countries where DFID works.
The seminar featured presentations from Kunda Mutebele from the National Union of Plantation, Agricultural and Allied Workers in Zambia, and researchers commissioned by the DWLSF to carry out a study examining how decent work themes have been incorporated into development planning in Bangladesh and Zambia. The seminar also received contributions from Zafrul Hasan from the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Relations, who was unable to make the event due to a last minute hitch.
Kunda Mutebele outlined key decent work challenges for workers in the horticultural sector. These included low wages, long working hours; lack of payment for overtime, seasonal and casual work being prominent; and labour laws not being adequately implemented. Participants were informed that the horticultural sector has been badly hit by the financial crisis leading to a large number of redundancies and the workforce being reduced by half.
For women workers, who make up the majority of workers in this sector, maternity benefits are only available for permanent workers, which excludes three-quarters of the workforce. Adequate measures for occupational health and safety were also identified as lacking, with accidents involving chemicals being an issue and mainly surface improvements being made. For example, labels on hazardous chemicals being applied when the supplier knows there will an audit, but these changes not being implemented on a longer-term basis. However, Kunda also spoke of how the union is campaigning for changes in these areas to deliver decent work.
In Bangladesh, decent work challenges include a negative attitude towards trade unions, weak structures for social dialogue, acute gaps in relation to equal pay, ineffective implementation of labour laws, and a high incidence of child labour. In the ready-made garment sector in particular, progress needs to be made on maternity rights, wage levels, working hours and ensuring that workers receive an appointment letter/contract.
The study, ‘Decent work and poverty eradication – literature review and two-country study’ also cites a number of recommendations to stakeholders, such as DFID, national governments, trade unions and business. These recommendations informed group discussions that were part of the seminar and the ideas and actions generated from this will be fed back to DFID as part of the Forum’s follow up work with the Department.
