Rights groups have demanded that informal workers, including construction workers and domestic assistants, get protection properly by the existing labour law.
They said these workers are deprived of their fundamental rights including wages and workplace protections.
"Domestic workers are not covered by the labour law. On the other hand, although construction workers are covered by the labour law, they do not enjoy rights such as the right to form trade unions," they added.
The rights campaigners made the demand at a workshop on findings of the ILO-PRS/STRIDE pilot project: Promoting Decent Work and Women's Rights in the Backdrop of Covid-19. The Workers Resource Centre (WRC) organised the event at a city hotel.
Although Bangladesh has ratified ILO convention 87 and C-98, due to many difficulties in forming union and collective bargaining issues, workers couldn't enjoy their rights properly, according to the WRC.
Referring to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the centre said about 87 per cent of the total workforce is working in the informal economy in Bangladesh.
It also said that the number of workers working in the construction sector is about 3.5 million and mong them 10-15 per cent is women who work hard at the bottom level like bricks and stone crushing, soil cutting, etc.
Although there is no specific data about the domestic workers, approximately 10 million domestic workers are in the country and most of them are young and adolescent, it said adding there are also some child labourers in this sector.
WRC Manger Khandoker Abdus Salam delivered the keynote speech while its Chairman Anwar Hossain, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) President Morsalin Nomani and Bangladesh Labour Rights Journalists Forum (BLRJF) President Kazi Abdul Hannan were also present at the programme.
