Cablegate: Management and Labor On Implementation of the Epz Law

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 003765

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT PASS USTR
DEPT PASS LABOR COLLECTIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM PGOV BG
SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT AND LABOR ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EPZ LAW

REF: DHAKA 3695

1. (SBU) Summary: BEPZA Chairman Hossain briefs investors on
the progress in implementing the EPZ law and listened to
worker's complaints about management's actions. End Summary.

2. (SBU) On July 30, laboff attended the Bangladesh Export
Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) monthly meeting, chaired by
Executive Director Mohammad Zakir Hossain, for investors and
factory managers at the Chittagong Export Processing Zone
(CEPZ). This month's event was to focus on the progress of
implementation of the 2004 law which permitted limited
freedom of association in Bangladesh's EPZs. Also in
attendance at this nearly two-hour meeting was the American
Center for Labor Solidarity (ACILS) Field Representative, Rob
Wayss.

3. (SBU) Before a room of 150 investors and managers, Hossain
discussed the general labor-management relationship and the
ongoing Worker Recreation and Welfare Committee (WRWC)
elections. He said that in the CEPZ, 107 of the 123 eligible
factories have had elections. He said that because the
laborers are not literate, we must train them and increase
their understanding. While there have been exceptions,
generally the elections have been free and fair, he said, and
many laborers in the WRWCs are sitting and talking with
management. He urged investors to talk with the workers,
saying that "you can solve any problem" before it gets out of
hand. He noted that at least one of the WRWC conveners has
left their WRWC for health reasons but said that factory
management has to seek his permission to fire anyone.

4. (SBU) Hossain expressed concern that some workers are
being lured to talk to outside labor activists but "we are
not going to allow that." Perhaps due to this outside
influence, there is a communication gap between management
and labor, with some workers asking, "Why should we work when
we are members of the WRWC now?" Saying that BEPZA has
hired "conciliators" who will try to bridge the labor -
management gap, he told managers that they needed to have the
"proper human resource" people in their factories as well, to
accept the WRWC workers in the proper manner, and to gain
their confidence.

5. (SBU) Opening the floor to questions, the investors and
managers raised a number of WRWC related issues and
allegations:

--WRWC conveners are interfering with factory's operations;
--Discipline is still the right of the factory owner;
--Some workers have assaulted managers;
--Workers have gone out on wildcat work stoppages in
violation of the EPZ law;
--Workers are illegally meeting with other workers outside of
the zone, WRWC convenors are meeting with other WRWC
conveners from other factories and with conveners from other
EPZs;
--Outsiders are collecting money from the workers, which
BEPZA should stop; and
--What is BEPZA doing to respond to the AFL-CIO petition
before the USTR?

6. (SBU) The President of Youngone, Peter Bauer, asked Wayss
why AFL-CIO had resubmitted the GSP petition before the USTR.
Wayss responded that, along with specific instances of WRWC
election problems, there is no due process system of any
labor-management dispute, that companies have refused to
comply with BEPZA's own rules on the status of workers, and
there have been mass dismissals of workers. He said that
these reports have been verified and BEPZA notified. Hossain
contradicted Wayss, saying that these are "sweeping
statements" but we need time to be "understood by the WRWC
and the workers." He said that the elections have been
meticulously conducted, but "give us time to complete the
elections." He said that "we have to be alert to outsiders,"
as they may have political reasons to mislead workers, and
gave as an example an ACILS local organizing partner, the
Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation
(BIGUF). He concluded by saying that workers are doing
illegal strikes, which must stop as workers cannot "take the
law into their own hands."

7. (SBU) Laboff attended a second meeting with BEPZA's
Councilators, Executive Chairman Hossain and staff, and WRWC
convenors. The 90-minute meeting started with Hossain
telling the 30 concilators assigned to the CEPZ that they
need to learn the EPZ law, specifically sections one and two
which define what issues the WRWC convenors may raise with
management. To the convenors, Hossain told them that they
need to be more responsible than regular workers, cannot
associate with outside people, should not interfere with
management's administration and should not use violence.

8. (SBU) Hossain opened the floor to questions. Among the
issues and allegations raised by the convenors were:

--management's use of bad language towards workers;
--30 of the 60 convernors in the room had not received a copy
of the 2004 EPZ law;
--management ignoring convenors and refusing to meet with them;
--management forcing convenors to travel as a method to
convince them to resign from the WRWC, while others who have
resigned altogether for the same reasons have not gotten
their resignation pay;
--several instances where workers and convenors after several
years, have not received an appointment letter;
--lack of technical assistance in developing the WRWC
internal procedures and policies as required in the law; and
--management's insistance that WRWC members have no special
rights. When a WRWC member saw a supervisor abuse a co-worker
and objected, the supervisor insisted that the WRWC convenor
pay attention to their own work.

9. (SBU) Hossain asked the convenors to write him a letter
detailing the problems, telling them that his authority was
limited is trying to persuade the investors and managers to
implement the law and follow BEPZA's rules. He noted that
management won't meet with many convenors but asked them to
be patient while he solves that situation. In the mean time,
he asked for "no violence." He said that there are very few
places where they would have the opportunity to speak to the
authority so directly, but here they could.

10. (SBU) Among the concilators, only one person had a
comment: factory workers and convenors do not accept them as
a neutral party.

11. (SBU) Comment: BEPZA deserves praise for inviting ACILS
to the investor's monthly meeting, and for meeting with
workers to listen to their complaints. However, EPZ law
implementation problems apparently continue with no apparent
strategy for dealing effectively with labor management
situations such as Ring Shine (reftel), or employing the
concilators to maximum effect. The concilators, none of whom
laboff spoke to had any labor, human relations or dispute
resolution training, have been given only seven days training
by BEPZA.

CHAMMAS

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