**ILO Governing Body, 353rd session**
**10 – 20 March 2025**
**Report by the Government of Bangladesh on progress made on the implementation of the road map taken to address all outstanding issues mentioned in the article 26 complaint concerning alleged non-observance of Conventions Nos 81, 87 and 98**
**GB.353/INS/9**
**EU statement**
Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania\*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, the EFTA countries Norway member of the European Economic Area and Switzerland, align themselves with this statement.
1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of labour rights. Universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and the ILO’s supervisory mechanism are essential in this endeavour.
2. We welcome the submission by the interim Government of Bangladesh of its recent progress report on the ILO Roadmap implementation. We thank the Office and fully support the continued engagement of the ILO in promoting labour rights in Bangladesh and monitoring the implementation of the Roadmap.
3. We welcome the high level of commitment of the interim Government to improve the labour rights situation and acknowledge the reported measures in the four priority areas.
4. Yet, we remain concerned by the fact that Bangladesh has only partially implemented the labour reforms it has committed to. We reiterate our call for their timely delivery and comprehensive implementation.
5. In line with the CEACR observations on Convention 87, published at the 111th session of the ILC in 2023, we urge the interim Government to align the Bangladesh Labour Act with international labour standards. It is particularly crucial to remove existing restrictions on freedom of association in all sectors and to facilitate the registration of trade unions and the right to collective bargaining, which is necessary to ensure lasting social peace and justice.
6. Trade union registration should be possible for all workers in all sectors, facilitated by a fair and transparent process, which limits administrative hurdles and is free from outside interference. With a view to the ILO Roadmap and the National Action Plan on labour rights – both foreseen to conclude 2026 – the time for a meaningful reform to align with international labour standards is now.
7. Furthermore, we call on Bangladesh to ensure that the BLA does not allow excessive penalties on workers, including imprisonment, for engaging in collective action or exercising labour rights— nor that it enforces unjustified restrictions on the right to strike.
8. We urge the Government to fully investigate all reports of workers and labour activists who have been injured, killed, harassed, blacklisted or intimidated, to hold those responsible to account and to effectively implement preventative measures - including through meaningful social dialogue.
9. Continued and intensified efforts are needed in training law enforcement authorities, including on any possible use of force, to apply the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality, including when dealing with strikes and protests, and to respect human rights, including labour rights more broadly.
10. We encourage the interim Government to continue working on full functionality of the labour inspectorates, including by ensuring independent inspections as well as a sufficient number of adequately trained inspectors. Penalties for employers engaging in unfair labour practices, anti-union discrimination, child labour, or forced labour must be genuinely dissuasive.
11. We acknowledge the progress made by the interim Government of Bangladesh in promoting social dialogue. Further work is necessary to strengthen national social dialogue so that an inclusive and tripartite consultation process can be followed to develop future policies such as the National Wage policy. We take note of the tripartite consultation process to introduce the Employment Injury insurance Scheme and urge the Government to adopt the scheme and make it applicable in all sectors.
12. We reaffirm our strong commitment to continue our cooperation with Bangladesh, in partnership with the ILO through the Team Europe Initiative on decent work, which includes substantial technical and financial support for the Government to expedite the necessary labour reforms. We encourage the interim Government to urgently tackle the open questions and challenges. We will continue to closely monitor the progress in the implementation of the roadmap.
We support the decision point.
Thank you, Chair.
_\*North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process._