DHAKA: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched capacity development training on effective workplace cooperation for workers’ representatives and mid-level managers in the readymade garment (RMG) sector.

ILO and Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM) have targeted to reach as many as 2,700 workers and managers from 100 RMG factories by the end of 2015, says a press release issued by ILO on Wednesday.

The training will be implemented in technical collaboration with BIM and in partnership with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), National Coordination Committee for Workers’ Education (NCCWE) and IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC).

The program will include a series of two-day workshops to bring workers’ representatives and managers together.

The capacity building activities will ensure that workers, employers and their representatives are better equipped to engage in meaningful dialogue and labor relations on workplace issues of mutual importance.

ILO Bangladesh country director Srinivas Reddy said, “The more workers and employers engage in social dialogue the better for harmonious industrial relations and good workplace cooperation”.

In all, 28 master trainers including seven BIM management counselors, who have been trained on effective workplace cooperation by ILO’s International Training Centre (ITC), will conduct the training.

Five training modules have been developed by ITC and translated into Bangla to support the sessions.

Similar training activities will be held in cooperation with BGMEA and BKMEA.

ILO is also in contact with Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to introduce parallel capacity development activities for workers and managers in factories in the export processing zones (EPZ).

The training activities are being carried out with the financial support of the governments of Norway and Denmark.

ILO recently signed an agreement with the Swedish government to implement a five-year project on “Promoting social dialogue and harmonious industrial relations in Bangladesh readymade garment industry”.

The project, to commence in early 2016, will further strengthen effective workplace cooperation in some 500 additional RMG factories.

BDST: 1637 HRS, NOV 18, 2015
SR/RR/SMS