M K Alam; Dhaka: As the world celebrates International Workers’ Day (May Day), thousands of workers in Bangladesh continue to struggle for their basic rights, trapped in a sluggish judicial system.
Currently, a staggering 27,876 cases are pending across 13 labor courts and the Labor Appellate Tribunal, leaving workers in a state of prolonged uncertainty.
Take the case of 60-year-old Tobarak Hossain. After serving 32 years at a jute mill, he has spent the last three years haunting the corridors of Dhaka’s 2nd Labor Court just for his pension.
“I am exhausted,” he says. “Hearings are postponed repeatedly, and now I’m being pressured to withdraw the case or get nothing.”
The Burden of Pending Cases
Statistics show that as of March this year:
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Dhaka: Over 14,000 cases are pending across three labor courts.
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Gazipur: 6,312 cases.
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Narayanganj: 2,870 cases.
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Chattogram: Over 2,500 cases across two courts.
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Other Regions: Cases are also piling up in Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet, Barishal, and Cumilla.
Most of these disputes involve the garment sector, focusing on illegal layoffs, unpaid wages, and withheld retirement benefits.
Why the Delay?
By law, labor cases should be resolved within 60 to 150 days. In reality, they often drag on for 6 to 7 years. Legal experts cite several reasons for this “judicial deadlock”:
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Staff Shortages: Vacant judge positions and the absence of worker/employer representatives.
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Lengthy Gaps: Hearing dates are often set 3-4 months apart.
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Legal Tactics: Employers frequently delay proceedings by not appearing or seeking repeated extensions.
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High Court Stays: Approximately 1,800 cases are currently stayed by orders from higher courts.
Advocate Sifat-e-Noor Khanam, a legal specialist at BLAST, noted, “Labor law is called ‘special law’ on paper, but in practice, it’s anything but fast. We have cases from 2008 that are still unresolved.”
While a new labor court has recently been established in Mymensingh to ease the pressure, the road to justice for Bangladesh’s labor force remains long and arduous.