US embassy cable - 05DHAKA3765

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, Labor Issues 
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