Assignment

On

Trade Unionism in Bangladesh: Problem and Prospect

Course Code: HRM-501

Course Title: Human Resource Management

Section: 02

Submitted to:

Dr. Sabnam Jahan, Associate Professor

Course Instructor: Human Resource Management

MBA Program, East West University, Dhaka

Submitted by:

Name ID
Nasir Uddin Mojumder 2019-2-95-083

May 13, 2020

 Letter of Transmittal

May 13, 2020

Dr. Sabnam Jahan

Adjunct faculty
Department of MBA Program
East West University, Dhaka

Subject: Submission of assignment on Trade Unionism in Bangladesh: Problem and Prospect

Dear Madam,

It is a great pleasure to submit the assignment on Trade Unionism in Bangladesh: Problem

and Prospect. Throughout the study I have tried my best to accommodate as much information
and relevant issues as possible and tried to follow the instructions as you have suggested. I
sincerely believe that it will satisfy your requirements and also serve the purpose of my
assignment.

I am grateful to you for your guidance and kind cooperation at every step of my endeavor on this
report. I will remain deeply grateful if you kindly go through the report and evaluate my
performance.

Sincerely yours,

Nasir Uddin Mojumder

 Acknowledgement

At first particularly I am thankful to the almighty Allah for best owing me and to give me the
effort to complete the task.

Human Resource Management is really an interesting course and attending a assignment like this
leaves one with a store of knowledge. For that I would like to convey my deep gratitude to my
honorable course instructor Dr. Sabnam Jahan madam for giving me the opportunity to study
on this assignment “Trade Unionism in Bangladesh: Problem and Prospect” It could have
been quite impossible for me to carry out the preparation and proceedings with this assignment
without her close guidance and continuous support.

Also, I am extremely thankful for all the websites, journals, research papers, articles and
newspapers from where I collected valuable information to prepare this assignment, as without
that, the study would go nowhere.

At last I also would like to thank my batch mates and teacher who helped me to complete this
assignment.
 Executive Summary

In our course, Human Resource Management we study about an organization from the
perspective of human resource management. We concentrate on how to manage a people in an
organization. The topic of the report is Human Resource Planning. Human resources planning is
very much important for every business organization. Human Resources may be the most
misunderstood of all corporate departments, but it’s also the most necessary. Those who work in
Human Resources are not only responsible for hiring and firing; they also handle contacting job
references and administering employee benefits.

Human resource planning is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating
employees, and attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. It’s
true that any individual who works in Human Resources must be a “people person.” Since
anyone in this department deals with a number of employees, as well as outside individuals, on
any given day, a pleasant demeanor is a must.

Human Resources may have gotten a bum rap, but it’s clearly among the most important
departments in any corporation. The benefits of globalization have been very unevenly
distributed both between and within nations. At the same time a host of social problems have
emerged or intensified, creating increased hardship, insecurity, and anxiety for many across the
world, fuelling a strong backlash. As a result, the present form of globalization is facing a crisis
of legitimacy resulting from the erosion of popular support.

The concept encompasses investment in the skills of the labor force, including education and
vocational training to develop specific skills. Human capital is one component of a country’s
overall competitiveness. The most successful developing countries, for example, Singapore and
Malaysia, are investing heavily in the education and technical skills of their population.

Actually these departments do that work. This department of the organization works with the
employee and the staff and worker. This department deals with their job planning and design,
recruitment, selection, measure their job performance and target their compensation.
 Table of Contents

Name Page No.

Introduction 1-2
Definition of Trade Union 2-3
Objectives of Trade Union 3-4
Reasons for Joining Trade Union 4
Theories/Approaches of Trade Union 5-6
Weakness or Limitations of Trade Union 7
Consequences of Trade Union for Political Influence 7-9
Reasons for Political Involvement in Trade Union 9-11
Distinguished Problem in Trade Union for Bangladesh 12
Measures Suggested Making in Trade Union More Effective for Bangladesh 12-13
Conclusion 15
References 16

Introduction
A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers. The trade union, through its
leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour
contracts with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint
procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety
and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file
members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers. Individually a
worker is too weak to protect and advance interests in his own and he can do so only when he
acts collectively in his trade union with his fellow workers.

Trade unionism is the core of industrial relations. Primarily it is also referred to as phenomenon
of the capitalist society, where in trade unions seek to remove the power imbalance between the
employer and individual worker of the labor power. In fact trade unions are born of the necessity
of working class people to protect their rights and privileges as well as to defend themselves
against enrichments, injustices, and exploitation by their employers. Thus, trade unions provide a
platform for workers‟ collection action and constitute an integral part of the relationship between
employers and the employed.

Trade union is the most common figure in a country. Trade unions are the controller of
the labor force of an industry which works for the betterment of the country’s trade by
ensuring the right of the labor force. The economic importance of trade unions in developing
countries is not commensurate with the size of their membership. The behavior of
Bangladeshi trade unions is characterized by political activism, and momentous strikes, called
‘HORTAL’. There, have played a crucial part in most political changes in this country. In
Bangladesh almost 100% of the workers and employees of the public sector are unionized,
while one out of six of the wage earners in the private formal sector are unionized. The aim of
this discussion is to provide a simple theoretical framework for analyzing this dimension of
trade union activity, and to test its main implication in the case of Bangladesh.

Definition of Trade Union

A trade union is an organization made up of members and its membership must be made up
mainly of workers. One of a trade union's main aims is to protect and advance the interests of
its members in the workplace. Most trade unions are independent of any employer. However,
trade unions try to develop close working relationships with employers.

The Trade Union and Labor Relations Act 1974 (UK): "Trade union means an
organization (whether permanent or temporary) which consists wholly or mainly of workers of
one or more descriptions and is an organization whose principal purposes include the regulation
of relations between workers of that description or those descriptions and employers or
employers' associations.

The Canada Labor Code, at 3(1): "Trade union means any organization of employees, or
any branch or local thereof, the purposes of which include the regulation of relations between
employers and employees."

Different scholars have defined a trade union in different ways. Sydney and Beatrice Webb
has defined a trade union as “a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of
maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives”.

A trade union is also called as a labor union. A labor union is an organization of workers who
have banned or unified together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions.
The trade union, through its voluntary; bargains with the employer on behalf of the union
members and collective bargain with the employers. This may include the negotiation of working
conditions like wages, rules, time, and job security etc. the agreements are strictly negotiated by the
union leader on behalf of the whole trade union with the employers. In some cases nonmember
workers also bargain with the employer.

Objectives of Trade Union:

Objectives of trade unions are not defined; rather these are changing according to the need of the
economy and overall industry. When the objectives are not settled then the rivals are started.
Trade unions are the only way to manage, comply and control the labor force. There are the lots
of objectives to organize trade unions:

From the management’s point of view the objectives are:

 To reduce number of negotiation.

 To specify work rules, disagreements and grievances to give the better solution to
workers claim.
  To establish the efficient communication between 5he employees and management to
enforce the predictable standards.
 To enhance the overall organizational effectiveness workers can also be inspired to form
and organize trade union.

From the workers point of view three important objectives of trade union are as follow:

 To defend or improve the wages and working conditions of workers and to bring about a
change in the economic order.
 To strengthen their (labor) bargaining power collectively to establish or achieve all their
rights.
 To dully protect all other interest of workers.

Reasons for Joining Trade Union

Several research studies have been conducted to find out the reasons for workers to join a trade
union. Pramar (1997) indicated that workers join trade union because of many reasons, but
predominantly they feel that unions will protect their interest and provide safeguard against
victimization. Cheema (1990) in his thesis has pointed out that workers join trade union to fight
for the legitimate demands of workers, to provide safeguards against victimization, to increase
wages and resolve industrial grievances. The present study also proves this point beyond doubt.
When asked why you are joining trade unions, most of the respondent workers mentioned more
than one reason. Almost percent of workers mentioned that they had joined trade union in order
to protect their interest and safeguard them from any sort of victimization by the employers or
management.

Human beings are rational creature. They usually act upon rationally in different spheres of
their lives. Similarly, workers join a union with a rationale approach whether joining a union
will be beneficial or not. This can simply be decided by making a cost-benefit analysis in this
regard. The excess of benefits over costs, i.e., profit or reward, justifies workers’ joining to a
trade union.
Researchers have devoted a great deal of time and effort to study “why do employees choose
to join a union.” They have failed to report a common list of reasons that apply to all
organizing efforts.

Nonetheless, there is a general agreement among the labor experts that certain issues are likely
to lead to an organization drive by workers Major ones among them are the following:

Greater Bargaining Power:

The individual employee possesses very little bargaining power as compared to that of his
employer. If he is not satisfied with the wage and other conditions of employment, he can
leave the job. It is not practicable to continually resign from one job after another when he is
dissatisfied. This imposes a great financial and emotional burden upon the worker. The better
course for him is to join a union that can take concerted action against the employer. The threat
or actuality of a strike by a union is a powerful tool that often causes the employer to accept
the demands of the workers for better conditions of employment.

Minimize Discrimination:
The decisions regarding pay, work, transfer, promotion, etc. are highly subjective in nature.
The personal relationships existing between the supervisor and each of his subordinates may
influence the management. Thus, there are chances of favoritisms and discriminations. A trade
union can compel the management to formulate personnel policies that press for equality of
treatment to the workers. All the labor decisions of the management are under close scrutiny of
the labor union. This has the effect of minimizing favoritism and discrimination.

Sense of security:
The employees may join the unions because of their belief that it is an effective way to secure
adequate protection from various types of hazards and income insecurity such as accident,
injury, illness, unemployment, etc.
The trade union secure retirement benefits of the workers and compel the management to
invest in welfare service for the benefit of the workers.

Sense of Participation:
The employees can participate in management of matters affecting their interests only if they join
trade unions. They can influence the decisions that are taken as a result of collective bargaining
between the union and the management.

Sense of Belongingness:

Many employees join a union because their co-workers are the members of the union. At times,
an employee joins a union under group pressure; if he does not, he often has a very difficult time
at work. On the other hand, those who are members of a union feel that they gain respect in the
eyes of their fellow workers. They can also discuss their problem with’ the trade union leaders.

Betterment of Relationships:

Another reason for employees joining unions is that employees feel that unions can fulfill the
important need for adequate machinery for proper maintenance of employer-employee relations.
Unions help in betterment of industrial relations among management and workers by solving the
problems peacefully.

Platform for self-expression:

The desire for self-expression is a fundamental human drive for most people. All of us wish to
share our feelings, ideas and opinions with others. Similarly the workers also want the
management to listen to them. A trade union provides such a forum where the feelings, ideas and
opinions of the workers could be discussed. It can also transmit the feelings, ideas, opinions and
complaints of the workers to the management. The collective voice of the workers is heard by the
management and give due consideration while taking policy decisions by the management.

Wages and Benefits:

Employees work for livelihood, i.e., bread-and-butter. Obviously, bread-and-butter issues of
employees are always important issues in their unionization. The employees may think that the
union, with its united strength, will ensure fair wages at par with those of other workers in the
community, benefits such as medical facility, pensions, paid sick leave, vacations and holidays
for them.
Working Conditions:

Employees like to work in a healthy and safe environment. Although there are statutory
provisions for providing employees a safe work environment employees still feel more
secured knowing that trade union is directly involved in safety and health issues relating to
them.

Fair and Just Supervision:

The days are long gone when managers / leaders could rule employees with an iron fist.
Thanks to the trade unions that brought about a change or shift in leadership styles from
autocratic to democratic, or say, people oriented to ensure that the managers treat their
employees fairly, justly, and respectfully. Employees can only be disciplined for “just cause.”
In case of mistreatment from the employer, the employee may file a written grievance against
the employer.
The complaint will be heard and resolved through a formal grievance procedure involving
collective discussion by both union and management representatives.

Powerlessness:
Employees individually often feel voiceless or powerless to bring about changes that will
benefit them’. But, it is union that provides them a powerful, collective voice to communicate
to management their dissatisfaction and frustration. This is based on labor philosophy ‘unity is
the strength”.

Some workers join a trade union because they believe that a union can:

 To negotiate better pay

 To negotiate better working conditions, like more holidays or improved health and
safety
 They believe that there is strength in number and they will be listened to when they in
a group.
 To negotiate a better pay, more holidays and less hours of work.
 To pressurize the employer to provide them with a healthier and safer working
 environment.
 Improved benefits for retrenched workers
 To get the benefits of advice, financial support and welfare activities carried out by
Trade Unions.
 Many workers may also join a trade union because there is a closed shop policy.

Organization of workers have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the
integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as
health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete
the work, and better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with
the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers.

Theories/Approaches of Trade Union

There is no theory of trade unionism, but many contributors to these theories are revolutionaries
like Marx and Engels, Civil servants like Sydney Webb, academics like Common and Hoxie
labour leader like Mitchall. Important theories of trade unionism are as follows.

1. Political Revolutionary Theory of Labour Movement of Marx and

Engels: This theory is based on Adam Smith’s theory of labour value. Its short run
purpose is to eliminate competition among labour, and the ultimate purpose is to
overthrow capitalist businessman. Trade union is pure simple a class struggle, and
proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains and they a world to win.
2. Webbs Theory of Industrial Democracy : Webb’s book ‘Industrial democracy’ is the
Bible of trade unionism. According to Webb, trade unionism is an extension of
democracy from political sphere to industrial sphere. Webb agreed with Marx that trade
unionism is a class struggle and modern capitalist state is a transitional phase which will
lead to democratic socialism. He considered collective bargaining as the process which
strengthens labour.

3. Theory of Industrial Jurisprudence: According to S. H. Slitcher the propounded

 of the “Theory of Industrial Jurisprudence”, workers individually fail in bargaining
with employers for protecting their interests. In his view, trade unionism served as a
means for workers to protect them in work. Such an approach of trade unionism,
Slitcher termed as “a system of industrial jurisprudence”.
4. Rebellion Theory: Frank Tannenbaum, the profounder of “Rebellion Theory”, trade
unionism is a spontaneous outcome in the growth of mechanization. He believes that
the use of machines leads to exploitation of workers. Thus, machine is the cause and
labor movement, i.e., trade unionism is the result. In other words, trade unionism is a
rebellion approach against mechanization atomization of industrial society to protect
workers’ interest in the enterprise.
5. Cole’s Theory of Union Control of Industry: Cole’s views are given in his book
“World of Labour” 1913. His views are somewhere in between Webb and Marx. He
agrees that unionism is class struggle and the ultimate is the control of industry by
labour and not revolution as predicted by Marx.
6. Common’s Environment Theory: He was skeptical of generalizations and
believed only that which could be proved by evidence. He agreed that collective
bargaining was an instrument of class struggle, but he summarized that ultimately there
will be partnership between employers and employees.
7. Hoxies Functional Classification of Unionism: He classified Unionism on the
basis of their functions. His classification were Business Unionism for protecting the
interest of various craftmen, “Uplift unionism” for the purpose of contributing better
life such as association of sales engineers etc. “Revolutionary Unionism” which is
eager to replace existing social order, “Predatory Unionism” which rests on these
support of others.
8. Perlman’s Theory of the “Scarcity Consciousness” of Manual Workers: He
rejected the idea of class consciousness as an explanation for the origin of the trade
union movement but substituted it with what he called job consciousness.

According to him, ‘working people in reality felt an urge towards collective control of
their employment opportunities, but hardly towards similar control of industry.’ Perlman
 observed that three dominant factors emerged from the rich historical data:

 the capacity or incapacity of the capitalist system to survive as a ruling group in the
face of revolutionary attacks (e.g., failure in Russia).
 the source of the anti-capitalist influences being primarily from among the
intellectuals in any society.
 the most vital factor in the labour situation was the trade union movement. Trade
unionism, which is essentially pragmatic, struggles constantly not only against the
employers for an enlarged opportunity measure in income, security and liberty in the
shop and industry, but struggles also, whether consciously or unconsciously, actively
or passively, against the intellectual who would frame its programs and shape its
policies.

9. The Gandhian Approach: The Gandhian approach of trade unionism is based on

“class collaboration rather than class conflict and struggle”. The idea to take worker’s
due share from capitalist by reform and self- consciousness among workers led to the
emergence of trade unionism. Thus the Gandhian approach of trade unionism is not
only related to material aspect but also moral and intellectual aspects.
Gandhi emphasized that the direct aim of a trade unionism is not, in the last degree
political. Instead, its direct aim is internal reform and also evolution of internal
strength. Also, trade unionism, according to the Gandhian approach, is not anti-
capitalistic as is generally viewed.

Weakness or Limitations of Trade Union

In spite of its legal and social importance, trade unionism in Bangladesh is suffering from a
number of inherent defects. Trade Unions have a lot of unavoidable Problems. Some of those are
discussed below:

A Handmaid of Politics:

Trade unions in our country are only handmaids of political parties and the unions do not have
independence of policies nor could they make separate pronouncement on the public policy and
the unions are tied up with political parties functioning as mere adjuncts of the parties. Far from
being equals, joined together for promoting mutual strength and interest, the trade unions are
subservient to political parties, thus losing their separate entity. Just like England, trade unions in
Bangladesh are allied with political parties, but unlike in England, political divisions in
Bangladesh have affected the growth of trade unions.

Less of labour interest and More of Political Interest:

The unity of purpose has disappeared after independence and organizations never tried to live up
to the ideas and objectives, though every union had high sounding aims and objectives. The
Bangladeshi labour being illiterate and ignorant, could not organize themselves well to get their
without the help of ‘outsiders’.

Thus, from the very beginning, Bangladesh trade union has been dominated by outsiders and is
deeply involved in politics. Outsiders are not workers. They never lived the life of a worker.
Their approach was purely intellectual and legal and trade unionism was a tool for them or for
their party. Hence, in all cases, the issues were not important from the point of view of the
workers and in the name of workers; the decisions were taken by politicians. Unions are
exploited for political purposes and their legitimate functions are completely ignored.

Lack of consciousness:

The major numbers of members of trade union are not actually completely aware about their
legal rights and duties. That is the reason they don’t know the favorable characteristics of trade
unions. That is why in Bangladesh trade unions are not strong enough to complete the need of the
economy.
Division of trade union:

Bangladesh is a country where every organization has more trade unions in name only. Those
unions are driven by the political leaders of various political parties. So a huge verity of problem
arises in the organizations. The overall productivity got down. Moreover trade union cannot play
its role perfectly. That is why disputes are created and more division are created under different political
wings.

Lack of Unity:

Trade union is actually a unity of the labor force for assuring their need. But in Bangladesh trade
unions are separated for political influence. It is a shock that only for difference in political view,
every industry has at least three major parts of a single union.

Lack of Leadership:

The Bangladeshi workers are not in a position to lead the movement and the ordinary workers
have not been able to assume leadership. This is mainly because of the hold of the outsiders over
the unions. Bangladeshi political parties and their representatives in the trade union movement
are not prepared to leave it alone. This type of domination of political parties in leadership leads
to inter-union rivalry and formation of a large number of small unions. Leadership by outsiders is
necessary to a certain extent at the initial stages but it should not go to the extent of exploiting
the laborers by irresponsible leaders for political gain. This type of outside political pseudo-
leadership weakens the unions and, consequently, they have to rely heavily on the government
sponsored industrial relations machinery in preference to methods of collective bargaining and
mutual assurance.

Rickety Structure:
According to V.V. Giri, the main defects of the trade unions are rickety nature having poor
membership and, consequently, poor financial resources and lack of whole time paid officers to
look after the work of the unions.

Multiple Unions and Rivalries:

Multiplicity of trade unions, inter-union rivalries as well as political rivalries, naturally, leads to
disunity in the ranks of workers which proves harmful for the healthy growth of trade unionism.

Absence of Positivism:

Most of the trade unions in Bangladesh exhibit a deplorable lack of positivism in their approach
to problems. Unions concentrate their attention and work on the organization of strikes and other
similar methods for bargaining with the employers and try to ‘promote’ the welfare of the
workers. They do not try to impress and secure the loyalty of the workers, nor do they play an
important direct role in the sphere of labour welfare.

Limited Membership:

Trade Unions are established in limited areas. They are concentrated only in industrial areas, that
too in the urban areas and in the organized sectors. They are unknown in rural and undeveloped
areas. Only three per cent of industrial workers are associated with the labor organizations.

Financial Weaknesses:

The absence of big funds is the greatest weakness of the trade unions. Members of the unions are
poor. The poverty made them' unable to contribute significantly to the funds of their
organizations.

Low wages:

During freedom struggle, there were only a few industries in the country. The employers of
these few industries paid very low wages to the workers making their economic condition
miserable. The workers were unable to pay even the small membership fee for the trade unions.
Hence, they never joined any trade union.

Small size of labour unions: Large organizations can required to put pressure on the
government, because the latter had the potential to suppress even larger organizations. But,
unfortunately, most of the trade unions in Bangladesh are small which made them unable to put
any significant pressure on the government. Further, these organizations had restricted area of
operation.

Illiteracy: Majority of the workers are illiterate. They are not aware of their rights. They do not
even know how much they should be paid for the work they did.

Consequence of Trade Union for Political Influence

The most powerful and deep affecting barrier for the growth of trade union of Bangladesh is its
political environment. Most of the trade unions of Bangladesh are not free from the political
influence. Political leaders use the trade unions for illegal purposes. For this the actual
environment of trade union is not seen in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, trade unions work a part
of political parties not as a free right saving association.

Political influence on trade unions is greater than trade unions’ influence on political
processes. This is according to General Secretary of Guyana Trades Union Congress Lincoln
Lewis, who stated that having a trade union whose leaders are supportive of a government can
undermine workers’ fundamental rights, as that union may not oppose government decisions
which may impact workers’ lives. Consequences of political influence are,
 For the power of politics, trade union always dishonors the management.

 Political influence’s existence makes the trade union not to interfere in management
decisions.
 For the power of politics trade union always dishonor the management. They don’t
listen to them; don’t obey orders even set their compensations by their own. All is
because of the sick environment of politics of Bangladesh.
  Political influence in trade unions is detrimental to the workers interests. Political
involvement creates intra-union and intra-union rivalries among trade unions.
 Political influence develop militant attitude among trade union leaders, tendency to
avoid collective bargaining process by the employers.
 Politicization of trade unions resulting into multiplicity of trade unions in
Bangladesh creates a lot of problems in the industrial relations system as well as in
the economic development of the country.
 Trade union can be unreasonable in their dealings and demands and can put undue
pressure on companies to pay unreasonable wage and benefits because all workers
may call for a strike by using political influence.
 Corrupt union leader can get private payments from employers or management in
return for a substandard contract – a so called sweet heart agreement – or in turns for
settling or averting a strike would impose loss on the firm.

 Trade unions creating more positions by the permission of management and

appointing more than need of workers. It’s creating surplus of manpower but not of
productivity.
 Trade union of Bangladesh bargains more than they understand because of the
limitations of their knowledge. So it becomes difficult to make any decision by
consulting with the TU. If don’t consult then they strike. It is the backend support of
politics what is creating them more powerful.
 Trade union leaders always try to save their interest first then the labor. And it is
always communicated that management body did the wrong. So this unethical
performance creates conflict between TU and managerial body

Political decisions have an enormous impact on the lives of our members. In seeking to
promote and defend the interests of our members it is legitimate that we attempt to influence
who is in a position to take such decisions and what decisions they take. It would be a
disservice to our members if we were not positively engaged in public debate.
Reasons for Political Involvement in Trade Union

In Bangladesh, trade unions are highly politicized. Most of the trade unions are affiliated with
industrial federations and even with the rational federations of trade union, which have got
political affiliation with major political parties. The excessive political interferences in trade
unions indicate a trend towards a rapid mushrooming of trade unions in the country. It is also
evident that most of the trade union leaders tried to perpetuate leadership by virtue of their strong
political affiliation particularly with the ruling party without any approval or consent of the
workers.

The tradition of political involvement trade union in post-liberation Bangladesh has its roots in
times past. Both in British India and during Pakistan rule trade union movements were carried
forward by political actions. In Bangladesh period, it is also seen that without support of political
parties most of the trade union movements were not successful. In fact, the trade union
movement is manifested and successful when political parties actively participate to carry on
their normal activities.

The deep intimacy between trade unions and political parties ultimately develop the uneven
growth of trade unions in Bangladesh. In most cases a trade union leader and politician is the
same person. Different political parties are in competition among themselves and as a result each
union is known by the political party it belongs to. In Bangladesh most of the trade unions are
affiliated with different political parties.

Political involvement in trade union is considered necessary because without ideology the
existence of trade union is not possible. Usually the influence of political parties provides inputs
for the formation of multiple trade unions at the plant level.

Political involvement in trade unions is general phenomenon of our national and political culture.
It suffers from a variety of problems, such as uneven growth and small size of unions,
multiplicity of unions, intra and intra union rivalry, dependence of outside leadership, financial
weakness, etc. This vicious circle has adversely affected the environment for trade unionism in
Bangladesh.

Distinguished Problem in Trade Union for Bangladesh

With the discussion some problems of trade union have been found out and these are:

Self Interest:

The leaders of Trade Union work more to save their own interest rather than workers.

Surplus in Number:

As there are more trade unions in organizations as it is required so that mismanagement happens
and thus productivity goes down. Moreover trade union cannot play its role perfectly. That is
why disputes are created and more division is created under different political wings.

Threat of Losing Job:

Workers feel that if they join trade union and demand their rights, they might lose their jobs. So
that workers don’t feel conscious about demanding their rights.

Excessive Bargaining:

As workers have less knowledge & awareness, they bargain more than they understand. As a
result organization fails to fulfill their demand and don’t consult then they call strike.

Political Influence:

Trade unions of Bangladesh are related with political parties and for this political power leaders
of trade union dishonor the management of the organization. It creates clash between workers
and management and so organization becomes closed.

Lack of Unity:

trade union is actually a unity of the labor force for saving their rights. But in Bangladesh trade
unions are separated for political influence.
Lack of Proper Leadership:

Sometimes the leaders of Trade Union are not able to lead workers properly, so that they fail to
assure their rights.

Lack of Acknowledgement:

Most management is not prepared to recognize trade unions. This is because of the existence of
low membership that reduces the bargaining power of the union and the indifferent attitude of the
employees themselves towards trade unions.

Measures Suggested Making Trade Union More Effective for

Bangladesh
In the context of the world industry, Bangladesh is very younger. So it should follow some
measurements in order to increase its stability of economy. In the light of Japanese and western
trade union concept, some suggestion or steps can be defined to improve and establish the real
trade union culture in Bangladesh. These steps must be taken in both public and private sectors.
These are as follows:
• One Union in One Industry: Multiplicity of unions in the same plant leads to inter-
union rivalry that ultimately cuts at the root of the trade union movement. It weakens
the power for collective bargaining and reduces the effectiveness of workers in
securing their legitimate rights. Therefore, there should be only one union in one
industry.
• Paid Union Officials: Generally, the trade unions avail the services of the honorary
workers due to lack of funds. The practice should be stopped because honorary office
bearers cannot do full justice to the task entrusted to them because of lack of time at
their disposal. Suppose that you are asked to do something in the office, which requires
a lot of responsibility.
• Development of Leadership from Within: It is of crucial importance that trade
unions are managed by the workers, and not by outsiders. Leadership should be
 developed from within the rank and file of the workers
• Recognition of Trade Unions. Till recently, the employers refused recognition to
the trade unions either on the basis that unions consisted of only a minority of
employees or two or more unions existed.
Some others suggestions are:

 Influence of political parties on trade union activities should be minimum.

 Proper development of leadership at the plant level should be emphasized with respect
to national goal and aspirations.

 Workers training and orientation programs should be undertaken in order to make them
more conscious. Management can play vital role in this regard.

 Legal provision of only one trade union per enterprise as the bargaining agent of
workers at various levels should be strictly maintained.

 Actions such as prior consultation with the union on all important issues affecting the
organization, a sincere concern for the welfare of the employees and use of joint study
committees both the union can go a long way in improving the management and union
relations of an industrial enterprise. This will strengthen the understanding between
workers and management.

 Strengthening bilateral collective bargaining for solving problems quickly and

effectively.

 Multiplicity of trade union creates the rivals in a union. So it must be reduced.

 Political involvement must be reduced. A trade union without the control of politics
 only can be the way of all solution of the problems of management and worker.

 Promotion of collective bargaining through recognition of sole bargaining agents.

 Elimination of party politics and outsiders through building of internal leaders.

 Empowering labor courts to settle inter-union disputes if they are not settled within the
organization.

 Extensive training facilities in the area of leadership skills, management techniques

and programs should be provided to the workers.

 Management must help and guide trade unions to settle industrial clashes and crisis. It
is trade union who has control over the workers. It helps totally to stop strikes and
rivals of workers.

 Trained and skilled persons should beat the leading position of trade union.

 Trade unions always should demand reasonable thing to the management.

 Sound relationship between trade union and management should be developed to solve
industrial clashes and crisis.

 The demand of trade union matters a lot to the economy. If demands are reasonable
and real then it should be worked out. But if it is not, then a strike breaks out. So trade
unions always should demand reasonable thing to the management.
Conclusion
At present trade unionism is burning issue in our country. The most common purpose of these
associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. The
trade union through its leadership bargains with the employer on behalf of union members
and negotiates labor contracts with employers. It is regrettable to note that, for the past several
years trade unionism in Bangladesh has lost its previous glorious role and image. Bangladesh is
now turning towards an industrial economy and we have to maintain industrial peace and
harmony through encouraging as well as by strictly adhering to the principle “one union in one
industry” and also taking appropriate measures for smooth functioning of our trade union. Trade
unionism should be made in compliance with international standard keeping in mind of the
lesson of the past and present experience for better protection of the national interest.
Effective enforcement mechanism including adequate inspection, independent investigation,
fair trial and execution of verdict is to be ensured by the state. Relevant stakeholders like
the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, international apparel
brands and consumers have to play pro-active role by encouraging the establishment of
independent trade unions to protect workers’ rights by representing the grievance of the workers
properly and to settle labour disputes through peaceful means.
References

 Definition of Trade Union: Sydney and Beatrice Webb

 Taher, Md. Abu (1999), Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.34, No.4, pp.403-420
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 Reddy. D.Narasimha, Indian Journal of industrial Relations, Vil.8, No.1 pp.121-129 The
Impact of Political Party-Trade Union Nexus on Bargaining Power in Public
Employment: A Case Study
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Challenges in Bangladesh Perspective
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 http://www.whatishumanresource.com/reasons-for-joining-trade-unions
 http://www.whatishumanresource.com/theories-of-trade-unionism
 http://developmentofeducation.blogspot.com/2009/11/weaknesses-of-trade-union-movement-
in.html
 Legal Framework for Trade Unionism in Bangladesh.
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