STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The government should establish a mechanism to ensure safer working environments at multinational companies so that workers’ rights are protected and companies are held accountable for negligence, speakers said at a programme yesterday.

They also stressed the need for labour-friendly policies, fair wages, skill development, and stronger protection for workers in both formal and informal sectors.

Rights activists, political leaders, and expatriates made the remarks at a discussion titled “Labour Environment, Evaluation, Rights, and the Future of Work”, organised by The Bangladesh Dialogue (TBD) at The Daily Star Centre.

At the event, SM Saif Kader Rubab, director of TBD, said, “Tragedies such as the Rana Plaza collapse led to the introduction of labour laws, minimum wage structures, maternity leave, and labour courts. But the state must still play a more effective and ethical role to ensure workers’ rights.”

Presenting the keynote paper, TBD Chief Operations Officer Kazi Rakib Hossain said workers in Bangladesh are still deprived of fair wages, workplace safety, and basic labour rights, even 140 years after the beginning of the labour movement.

He said workers in the garment, transport, domestic work, and migrant labour sectors continue to face discrimination, insecurity, and workplace risks.

Kazi Rakib also said women, third-gender people, They

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