DHAKA: The retirement age of government employees extends from 57 to 60 years as Parliament Monday passed a law for enactment to this effect.

Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain placed the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Bill 2010 providing for extension of the age-limit for doing government job by three years.

The Bill was passed by an overwhelming voice vote of deputies of the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance, in the absence of the boycotting mainstream opposition led by BNP.

The parliament session sat at around 11 am with speaker Abdul Hamid in the chair.

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain also told the lawmakers that the minimum wages of the workers would be announced soon through a consensus between the owners and workers’ representatives.

The minister felt the need of a bona fide body of workers in order to resolve the labour problem affecting the export-oriented garment industry on and off.

He said, “There is no strong body to deal with garment-industry affairs. If trade union could function properly, the problem would be resolved.”

Earlier on June 24, the legal amendment was sent to the parliamentary standing committee on Labour and Employment after placing in the House.

Meanwhile, Israfil Alam, Chairman of the Parliamentary standing committee on the Overseas Employment Ministry, told parliament that the retirement age of workers was 60 before formulating the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 that had lowered the age from 60 to 57.

“The cutback left around 60 thousand government and 70 lakh non-government employees in woes,” said the chief of the watchdog body on the important sector.

Independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim from Noakhali constitution-6 said that the problem would have been solved if the owners had looked upon the workers as “friend instead of foes”.

BDST: 1750 pm, 28 June 2010
JI/MRH/SMS/MUA