In a statement issued in Dhaka yesterday, President of the BEF M Anis Ud Dowla said the Federation strongly feels that it will be advisable for the government to allow the EPZ workers full trade union rights as provided in the law within the time-limit earlier gazetted by the government, says a press release.

In the EPZs, the workers are paid well and job insecurity is also not rampant. In the absence of these two provocative factors, trade union rights to the workers should not cause any problems.

What is required is that outsiders must not be allowed to involve themselves in the trade unions in the EPZ establishments. Proper institutional arrangement should be put in place to check against any abuse.

The Federation president hopes that the decision to allow trade unionism in EPZ would prove to be beneficial to the national economy.