Trade union leaders and economists on Thursday (December 29, 2022) urged the tannery owners to implement social and environmental compliances for the welfare of the industry and the workers. They said the European Union (EU) and the US are not buying leather from Bangladesh as most of the tanneries are yet to obtain certificates from Leather Working Group, an organisation of foreign leather buyers, for which the prices of leather are decreasing day by day. The trade body leaders were speaking at the programme Dissemination workshop on "institutional policy framework in the Tannery Workers Union" in a capital hotel Thursday. Read more: Tannery workers demand environment-friendly industry To obtain the certificates, the tanneries will have to implement social and environmental compliance programmes, the speakers at the programme said. Only so far three tanneries have got the certificates, they added. "And buyers of the EU and the US are buying leather from them." Social compliance relates to the health, safety and rights of the workers; environmental compliance means conforming to environmental laws, regulations and standards. Read more: Tanners demand 50-bed hospital in Savar tannery hub for workers’ treatment Professor MM Akash, chairman of the economics department of Dhaka University, spoke as the chief guest of the programme. General Secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra Wahedul Islam Khan, President of Workers Resource Centre Anwar Hossain; President of Tannery Workers Union Abul Kalam Azad and General Secretary Abdul Malek also spoke.

Trade union policy strategy should give attention to both organised and unorganised workers amid the pandemic. Different worker groups, including regular, temporary, and casual workers and small-scale employers – particularly those self-employed and involved in micro, small and medium enterprises; retailing, construction, road, commerce, tourism, and other informal sectors – are still reeling from the Covid-19 shock. So, effective social dialogues will be the key to the sustainable recovery of the labour market. Also read: Uncertain, uneven recovery likely amid unprecedented labour market crisis: ILO The observations emerged from the virtual dialogue on "Recovery of the Labour Market during Covid-19: Role of Trade Union" jointly organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) on Saturday. Speaking at the dialogue, Shirin Akhter, member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and also vice-chairman of BILS, called for increasing the number of enlisted organised workers. "There are many workers in the formal and informal sector in the country. But we do not have a proper list of them yet. We can grasp the overall situation of employers and workers through social dialogues," she said. Also read: Women need targeted support to tackle COVID-19 impact: CPD Dialogue Syed Manzur Elahi, former advisor to the Caretaker Government and chairman of Apex Group, said: "There is a communication gap. So, tripartite coordination has to be ensured among the government, factory owners and workers." Labour Secretary KM Abdus Salam said, "All stakeholders are heard with equal importance and monitoring is taking place regularly through a central monitoring committee."