Matia Banu is a housewife. She has opted for working as a home-based worker to earn some extra money for her family. Making various types of cakes is her job, a sub-contractual one for which she has been assigned by a city super chain shop. But Matia has been unhappy over the years as she is denied a price fair proportionately with her hard labour and time.

"I work at home during my leisure time, though. Whatever the amount I get as wage is considered as an extra income. But it's not enough because the job is laborious and time-consuming as well," Matia grumbles.

There are thousands of Matias here and there. These home-based workers are often denied fair wages for jobs due to lack of a national wage policy recognising such workers' contribution to the country's economy.

The observation came yesterday at a workshop on Minimum Wages for Home-based Workers at the Swanirbhar Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Women Home-workers Association (BWHA) and Homenet Bangladesh in association with United Nations Development Fund for Women organised the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Dilruba Anguri, general secretary of BWHA, quoting the Home Work Convention 1996 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said a person who produces different components of a product or a whole product in his own home for money on a contract is regarded as home worker.

Referring to the Clause 3 in the ILO Convention that laid emphasis on formulation and implementation of national policies for development of the home workers, Dilruba lamented that no government paid any heed to the matter in the last 10 years.

"The need for a national wage policy is urgent because it would help mitigate the deprivation of the home workers, many of whom produce exportable quality goods," she observed.

She demanded the government should ratify the ILO Home Work Convention 1996 to protect the home-based industry.

Touhidur Rahman Rony, president of the Garment Industry Workers Federation, announced at the workshop that a series of programmes would be chalked out to press home a wage security for the home-based workers.

He also made a clarion call to organise dialogues with small entrepreneurs, including Grammen Bank and Aarong, to fix a minimum wage for the home-based workers.
Addressing as the chief guest, Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), asked for ensuring social security, healthcare and facilities for the home-based workers.

He also suggested that adequate opportunities be made for the home workers to participate in different exhibitions and fairs, which might directly help them to get fair prices of their products.

Representatives from different organisations in Gazipur, Tangail, Shirajganj, Barisal, Khulna, Chuadanga and other areas of the country took part in the workshop.
They demanded fixing a category of the home-based works at first before raising the issue of minimum wages.

They also called for forming provident fund for the home-based workers immediately as fixing a minimum wage is a long process.

Badruddoza Nizam, general secretary of Garment Tailors Workers League, Selim Reza, coordinator of Homenet Bangladesh, and Abdul Mukit Khan, president of International Free Trade Union Congress, also spoke on the occasion.

If the government takes some initiatives for the development of the home based workers like inclusion of them into Bangladesh’ Statistics Record and providing policy support they can be self reliant through contributing to the national economy.

It was demanded at a daylong workshop titled Statistics for women home Based workshop at the head office of Sanirvor Bangladesh at Lalmatia in the city on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Homework women Association (BHWA)
And Home net Bangladesh (HNB) arranged the work shop in association with United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Home based workers leader and Secretary of Bangladesh Home workers women Association (BHWA) Dilruba Anguri was present as the chief discussant.

Working president of Bangladesh free Trade Union Congress A A Mukit Khan and trade union leader Bangladesh Nizam, Fazlul Haque and Coordinator
of Home Net Bangladesh Selim Reza also spoke on the occasion.
In his speech, Badruddoza Nizam said “when our neighboring country India has taken some pragmatic initiatives for the development home based workers then our home based workers are lagging behind due to lack of facilities.”

“If we are able to take some in some initiatives especially designed keeping in view the socio economic back ground  of the home based workers we can improve in some sectors like reduction of child labour ,” he also said.

Speakers said Bangladesh has been experiencing population sector needs encourage and support so that it can help remove unemployment from the country that is creating a great threat to the development of our socio economic condition.

A total of 45 home based workers leaders across the country and representatives of the governments organization and NGOs and trade union leaders attended the workshop.

Workers who produce products at their homes and favorite places without control of any ownership are called home based workers.  BHWA, an NGO is now working country wide with a view to improving socio-economic conditions of home based workers.

- Source: The News Today, 1 November, 2006

I. BHWA conducted a 2-day Workshop on Homebased Workers and National Policy in Dhaka on 25th-26th January 2003. Its theme was to devise a mechanism to frame a National Policy on homebased workers. Various aspects of organization, marketing and training were discussed and debated. A few major areas that needed attention were identified.

>> A major improvement is required in government attitude and support for the cause of Homebased workers.

>> There is a need to identify and organize all homebased workers in the country for more efficient sharing of resources and benefits.

>> Memorandum drafted for Labor Ministry to finalize National Policy as soon as possible.

II. On 7th April 2003, BHWA organized a daylong discussion meet of HomeNet Bangladesh delegates at the BHWA Auditorium in Dhaka. The meeting demanded trade union rights for HBWs, inclusion of HBWs in the Labour code being finalized and provision of state facilities for the Homeworkers. Leaders of different organizations in the country who are part of the HomeNet network took part in the meeting. This meeting also passed draft proposals for the activities to be conducted in the forthcoming year.

III. On 26th April, BHWA organized an information seminar on DRY FLOWERS AND EXTRA INCOME. Ms. Rina Rehman, a training teacher on this subject and a member of BHWA gave a lecture to all the participants. She also gave a demonstration of the process of making these products and how this knowledge can help women improve their status and become a financially independent and self-sufficient individual.

IV. On the occasion of Labour Day (1st May), BHWA and HOMENET, Bangladesh had jointly arranged for a 4-day exhibition-cum-sale (2nd-5th May) showcasing various types of handiwork created exclusively by home based women workers and assimilated from all over the country.

V. On June 8th, 2003, BHWA obtained registration as a trade union under the Trade related notification of 1969. This association could now fight for trade union rights on behalf of its member homeworker associations. This was the first time that workers in the informal sector have got Trade Union status in Bangladesh.

VI. On August 30th-31st, BHWA conducted a 2-day workshop on Health, Safety and Social protection issues affecting women homebased workers in Bangladesh. The major concerns listed by the participants include protection from occupational hazards and safe working environment, medical treatment and expenditure reimbursement facilities, social protection measures such as retirement benefits, savings schemes, micro-credit, legal assistance etc. All the above provisions need to be included in the National Policy for Homeworkers.

VII. On the 5th-6th of September 2003, Bangladesh Homeworkers Women's Association (BHWA) had organized a 2-day Homebased women workers' Handicraft mela. The mela was inaugurated by Mr. Abdul Matlub Ahmed, Chairman, NITOL-NILOY Group. His speech on the occasion outlined the excellent quality of the products displayed at the stalls. He stressed on the export potential of these products and said that the need of the hour was to explore the export market for better realizations and complete the necessary formalities (paperwork, permissions etc.) so that the women homeworkers could reap immediate benefits. The mela had around 80 stalls selling various types of handicrafts and food items with approximately 75 % of these stalls displaying products made in the rural districts of Bangladesh. For most of them, this was the first exposure to the consumer market in Dhaka. All these women were indeed overwhelmed by the enthusiastic consumer response from the mela. By the 6th evening, most of them had empty stalls and overflowing cash registers.

Bangladesh Homeworker Women's Association (BHWA)
House No. 11, Road No. 6, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
Phone - +88-02-9673167, Fax - +88-02-9664557
Email - anindya@agni.com
Siraj/ Drik