Practice of Social Dialogue in Industrial Relations: Evidence from Bangladesh

 Social dialogue, a process of consultation with key stakeholders on labor issues, labor market policies, and social protection, has long been used to achieve harmonious and sustainable industrial relations, fair globalization, improved productivity and decent work. This chapter argues that the effectiveness of social dialogue depends on respect for and implementation of rights of workers to form and join trade unions, free functioning of tripartite organizations, a sound legal framework and legitimacy of social partners. Although social dialogue is increasingly gaining acceptance in Bangladesh, its effectiveness is still limited due to lack of well-functioning trade unions, ill-equipped tripartite institutions responsible for initiating social dialogue, and the non-recognition of the role of NGOs and experts as partners in social dialogue. Although Bangladesh has ratified the ILO Convention on Social Dialogue, it has yet to adopt a specific legislation on it. Therefore, there is a clear regulatory gap on social dialogue in labor law framework in Bangladesh.