Two Ministries are involved in bringing in migrant workers into the country. The Ministry of Human Resources has repeatedly asserted that under the Trade Union Act migrant workers are allowed to join a union.
But the Immigration Department vested with powers to issue work permits under the Immigration Act stipulate a series of condition in the Work Permit – one of which says migrant workers are not allowed to join any association.
Three years ago a group of workers from Bangladesh who were not union members, sought and obtained a favourable ruling from the Industrial Court which stated that wages and working conditions stipulated under the Collective Agreement should be accorded to all migrant workers as well, irrespective of their union membership status. Employer appealed against the decision all the way to the High Court and Court of Appeal and lost.
Following that case Government changed the recruitment procedure. Government licensed 226 Migrant Labour suppliers who have brought in more than 500,000 workers and supply them to many employers.
So the revelation of Enforcement Director on Sunday 20 July, 2008 confirms that Government deliberately created the Labour supplier system so that employers who actually engage their services will be permitted to apply discriminatory practices with impunity
Recent arrest of senior officials of Immigration Department and others linked with them by the anti corruption Agency appears to show that the Labour outsourcing system is promoting corruption at the expense of migrant workers. So it is understandable that Immigration Officials would defend the system.
It is now obvious that employers, especially major corporations, have played an influential role in the introduction of the labour supplier system.
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