BANGLADESH: LABOR-GSP PETITION -- STAKEHOLDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DHAKA 001604

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PASS TO USTR: CLAUDIO LILIENFELD, MARIDETH SANDLER, ADINA
ADLER, DARLA BROWN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2017
TAGS: ELAB ETRD EFIS EIND EAID PREL SOCI KTEX KWMN
BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: LABOR-GSP PETITION -- STAKEHOLDER
VIEWS

REF: A) DHAKA 01552 B) 06 DHAKA 06636

Classified By: CDA a.i. Geeta Pasi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)



1. (C) SUMMARY: Government, labor, and manufacturing
representatives are preparing for a Washington review of
Bangladesh,s labor rights regime following a petition to
suspend Bangladesh,s access to the Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) submitted by the American Federation of
Labor ) Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to
the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). During recent
meetings with the Embassy in advance of an October 4 USTR
hearing on the petition, each group highlighted its
respective efforts and cast blame on other groups for lack
of progress. Both government and manufacturer
representatives admitted there are areas for improvement on
labor rights and compliance with the law. Reactions to the
GSP petition highlight the lack of trust between the key
labor stakeholder groups in Bangladesh and the absence of
institutionalized mechanisms to facilitate labor negotiations
and compromises. The current political context in Bangladesh
of a Caretaker Government and state of emergency complicates
the ability to make progress on key areas of labor rights,
including the right of association. There is clearly a need
for more dialogue among Bangladesh,s labor stakeholders.
END SUMMARY.

LABOR GROUPS: CONFRONTATIONAL ADVOCACY
==========================================


2. (C) David Welsh, Country Program Director of the
USG-funded American Center for International Labor Solidarity
(ACILS) contributed many of the factual elements of the
AFL-CIO,s GSP petition in collaboration with other
Bangladesh labor groups. The petition alleges violations in
Bangladesh,s Export Processing Zones (EPZs),the ready made
garment (RMG) industry, and the fish and seafood processing
industry. Additionally, the AFL-CIO,s petition alleges that
unions, workers and worker-rights NGOs are harassed by the
Government of Bangladesh,s security forces. Welsh dismissed
differing statistics regarding labor law compliance that have
been provided by manufacturer representatives. (NOTE: ACILS
receives approximately $500,000 a year in a grant from the
USG. ACILS works with selected labor groups that they judge
to be representative of worker interests: this excludes labor
groups with direct linkages to political parties, or
quasi-criminal labor bosses who use unions for their personal
enrichment. END NOTE)


3. (SBU) In the buildup to the hearing on the petition,
media reports quoted unnamed garment manufacturers who blame
ACILS for instigating the possibility of Bangladesh losing
GSP status and for inciting worker unrest. During a recent
meeting between government, labor and industry
representatives, Bangladeshi labor leaders passionately
expressed their displeasure at being characterized as
fomenting violence, and spoke angrily about labor leaders
being questioned and monitored by the government,s security
forces. One labor leader observed that ACILS and the groups
it assists explicitly reject violence and unrest. This labor
leader stated that the factory owners contribute to the
problem of worker violence by not negotiating with
legitimate, peaceful workers, groups and by choosing to
negotiate on an ad hoc basis with groups that use unrest to
press their demands.

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GOVERNMENT: GOOD INTENTIONS AND FAILED EFFORTS
============================================= ====


4. (C) The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority
(BEPZA) is the government organization that administers the
eight export processing zones (EPZs) in operation in
Bangladesh. BEPZA,s Executive Director is Brigadier General
Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf. Appointed in June of 2006 following
major unrest in the EPZs, Yussuf works in uniform but is
surrounded by layers of traditional bureaucrats. Yussuf
emphasized his personal interest in finding ways to
accommodate labor groups and better address worker issues and
needs. ACILS, Welsh and other labor leaders have expressed
faith in Yussuf,s intentions, but fear he is too removed
from the realities of EPZs and surrounded by subordinates who
do not share his commitment to labor rights. Yussuf spoke
kindly of EPZ workers and emphasized that their simple,
uneducated status made them vulnerable to being misled and
manipulated by outside miscreants, including foreign
interests. When pressed about the sources of outside
influence, Yussuf could only speculate in broad terms. His
deputies asserted that NGOs were behind labor unrest.


5. (SBU) Brigadier General Yussuf conceded that some
employers were not complying with EPZ schedules for minimum
wage payments, but he maintained that BEPZA has made progress
on this issue. He also cited as accomplishments increased
payments into employee retirement funds and increased fees
paid to terminated workers. Yussuf gave examples of the
formation of certain Workers Representation and Welfare
Committees (WRWCs) and the organizing of Workers Associations
(WA) as indicative of the general freedom of worker
association in the EPZs.


6. (C) Brigadier General Yussuf said he was disappointed at
the overall characterization of BEPZA in the AFL-CIO report.
He noted that specific points of progress he personally
negotiated with ACILS were characterized in negative ways or
not mentioned in the petition. He criticized ACILS for
insinuating itself inappropriately into specific roles and
functions that should be performed by BEPZA or the factories
themselves. For example, he noted as inappropriate ACILS,
role in collecting Worker Association forms on behalf of
workers for delivery to BEPZA (because of worker fears the
factories were not passing the forms onto BEPZA). What ACILS
viewed as a supporting or service function to workers, BEPZA
viewed as a violation of the regulations that structure labor
organization as a relationship in prescribed form between
workers and employers, both located under the authority of
BEPZA.


7. (C) When questioned about the harassment of labor
organizers and groups by security forces, Brigadier General
Yussuf emphasized that he never employed security forces for
such actions, and that he only called security forces to
quell active riots, which needed to be controlled for the
safety of workers and factory owners. He conceded it was
possible that security forces were monitoring workers based
on orders coming from somewhere other than BEPZA.


MANUFACTURERS: PRAGMATIC YET DISTRUSTFUL
===========================================


8. (C) The most sophisticated labor stakeholders in

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Bangladesh are the factory owners, industrialists and
investors. They approach the GSP issue with a clear
understanding of the stakes involved. They understand that
the U.S. GSP does not apply to their garment exports, and
they appreciate that the larger issue of workers rights in
the GSP review is a public-relations liability that may be
seized upon by their customers, especially since many of the
violations alleged in the AFL-CIO petition relate to the
garments export sector.


9. (C) In meetings with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers &
Exporters Association (BGMEA),it was clear that they have
resources to address the AFL-CIO,s claims. Notably, the DC
lobbying firm of Sorini, Samet & Associates that has been
retained for several years by BGMEA was made available to
assist the Government of Bangladesh in coordinating its
approach to the October 4 USTR hearing. BGMEA,s President,
Parvez Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury conceded that not all the
manufacturers are good managers; he noted that some worker
complaints against bad employers are likely legitimate. He
said that many of the factories with labor problems have
other business problems as well. He stressed however that
the majority of garment businesses are in compliance with the
majority of labor regulations, especially in the EPZs. He
said he hopes the industry will not be punished for the
misdeeds of a few bad actors. He emphasized that BGMEA is
actively involved in promoting labor rights and education,
including playing a role in negotiating a conclusion to
recent labor unrest. (Ref A) Manufacturing representatives
have attended and continue to attend meetings with NGOs to
discuss labor issues, but the industry representatives
complain that NGOs refuse to acknowledge examples of progress
achieved during the meetings.


COMMENT
=========


10. (C) Consideration of the GSP petition occurs at a
sensitive moment in Bangladesh,s fluid political environment
of Emergency Rule under a caretaker government. The USG is
pressing for a full lifting of the current limitations on
political activities ) proscriptions which directly impede
labor organizing efforts. In the current political
environment, some labor leaders and groups claim their
efforts are hampered by a climate of intimidation and
warnings against labor groups originating from Bangladesh,s
security forces and other political figures in the caretaker
regime.


11. (C) ACILS in Bangladesh has been successful in its
efforts dedicated to worker advocacy, establishing organized
labor groups, and educating workers about their legal rights.
Drawing from a distinctly American approach to
trade-unionism, the impact of ACILS is perceived by some
manufacturers and government agencies as contributing to a
confrontational mode of labor relations. ACILS,s objectives
would benefit from improved relations and credibility with
government and manufacturer stakeholders. More generally, a
challenge for working on labor issues in Bangladesh is the
large number of labor groups with different agendas. Some
labor groups are independent and accountable to their
membership, others are connected with criminal elements,
political parties, or are entirely co-opted by manufacturers
(Ref B).


DHAKA 00001604 004 OF 004



12. (C) Bangladesh,s labor stakeholders are focused on the
GSP issue with earnestness and seriousness. Although
suspension of GSP would affect only a tiny percentage of
Bangladesh,s exports to the United States, the larger issue
is Bangladesh,s image. The industry can point to areas in
which labor rights and conditions have steadily and
consistently been improving. On the other hand, labor groups
can also document continuing abuses by bad employers and a
lack of action by both the government and industry to advance
the cause of labor rights. The Caretaker Government can be
faulted for not placing a high enough priority on labor
issues among the major governance and institutional
development efforts it is undertaking, but there is no
indication that the GOB does not support the principles of
labor rights. By placing labor rights in terms of the
broader U.S.-Bangladesh trade relationship, the GSP review
process can help motivate Bangladesh to reenergize its
efforts on labor issues. At present, representatives of
labor, government and industry are focused on strategic
communications to advance their agendas at the USTR hearing.
In Bangladesh, if the stakeholders speak at all, they
continue to speak at and past each other, eschewing the
substantive dialogue needed for progress.
Pasi