Labor Disputes Settlement Mechanisms: Search for Labor Justice in Bangladesh

A robust dispute settlement mechanism to settle industrial disputes is crucial for addressing grievances of workers, ensuring harmonious industrial relations and balancing conflicting interests of workers and employers. After examining different types of labor disputes, this chapter analyzes both the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 and the EPZ Workers Association and Industrial Relations Act, 2019, which provide multi-layered dispute settlement procedures that include grievance procedure, bipartite negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, and adjudication. In view of the lengthy and complex procedure, the cost involved in adjudication, and the huge backlog of cases and the adversarial nature of adjudication, it is preferable that labor disputes should be resolved through a consensual and informal mechanism, such as bipartite negotiation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to avoid cost and lengthy procedure. Currently, the legal framework in Bangladesh does not encourage ADR for the settlement of labor disputes. In order to reduce the backlog of labor cases, a court-annexed mediation system can be introduced in labor laws. A fair, cost-effective, and efficient labor dispute resolution system that ensures speedy disposal of cases has great potential to facilitate access to justice for workers.