Bill Summary
This legislation aims to promote and protect labor rights globally through the establishment of the Global Labor Rights Fund, which will support labor rights organizations and provide technical assistance to foreign governments for labor law reform and enforcement. It also extends the Global Labor Program for an additional 5 years and outlines the responsibilities of the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Labor Rights, including engaging with foreign governments and organizations. The legislation also authorizes sanctions on those responsible for gross violations of labor rights and requires an annual report on labor rights in countries receiving U.S. assistance. It also focuses on labor rights in Bangladesh, including the establishment of an Embassy Labor Attache position and funding for labor rights programs and union support.
Possible Impacts
1. Workers around the world will benefit from the establishment of the Global Labor Rights Fund, which will provide financial support to organizations and entities that promote and protect internationally recognized labor rights. This fund will also assist in reforming and enforcing labor laws in foreign countries.
2. The Ambassador-at-Large for Global Labor Rights will play a key role in engaging with foreign governments and organizations to promote and protect labor rights. This position will also have the authority to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for gross violations of labor rights.
3. The annual report on labor rights, required under the legislation, will provide Congress with important information on the status of labor rights in countries receiving U.S. assistance. This report will also highlight the need for continued support and funding for labor rights programs, such as those in Bangladesh.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2104 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2104
To support global labor rights, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 17, 2021
Mr. Menendez introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support global labor rights, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Global Labor
Support Act of 2021''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I--GLOBAL LABOR RIGHTS
Sec. 101. Statement of policy.
Sec. 102. Funding for global labor rights.
Sec. 103. Global labor program.
Sec. 104. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Labor Rights.
Sec. 105. Imposition of sanctions with respect to gross violations of
the human rights of workers.
Sec. 106. Annual report on internationally recognized labor rights.
Sec. 107. Comptroller General report on United States Government work
on labor rights.
TITLE II--LABOR RIGHTS IN BANGLADESH
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Statement of policy.
Sec. 203. Updated labor rights and worker safety commitments for
Bangladesh.
Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 205. Embassy Dhaka labor attache.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration
on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which ILO Member
States adopted in 1998, recognizes four fundamental rights at
work:
(A) Freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
(B) The elimination of all forms of forced or
compulsory labour.
(C) The effective abolition of child labour.
(D) The elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation, which may be referred to as
non-discrimination.
(2) The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair
Globalization, which ILO Member States adopted in 2008,
recognizes four strategic objectives through which the Decent
Work Agenda is expressed:
(A) Promoting employment by creating a sustainable
institutional and economic environment for the
sustainable development of individuals, enterprises,
and societies.
(B) Developing and enhancing measures of social
protection, including social security, healthy and safe
working conditions, and policies in regard to wages,
hours, and other conditions of work.
(C) Promoting social dialogue for translating
economic development into social progress and making
labour law and institutions effective.
(D) Respecting, promoting, and realizing the
fundamental principles and rights at work, noting that
freedom of association and effective recognition of the
right to collective bargaining are particularly
important.
(3) On June 21, 2019, the International Labour Conference
of the ILO adopted the Violence and Harassment Convention (No.
190) and Recommendation (No. 206), which recognize the right of
everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment,
including gender-based violence and harassment.
(4) On June 21, 2019, the United States voted in favor of
the adoption of ILO Convention 190, but has not ratified it.
(5) The Department of State documents worker rights in its
annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in the
following five categories:
(A) Freedom of association and the right to
collective bargaining.
(B) Prohibition of forced or compulsory labor.
(C) Prohibition of worst forms of child labor and
minimum age for employment.
(D) Prohibition of discrimination with respect to
employment and occupation.
(E) Acceptable conditions of work.
(6) In 1999, the Department of State created the position
of Special Representative for International Labor Affairs.
(7) Section 515 of volume 1 of the Foreign Affairs Manual
defines the duties of the Special Representative for
International Labor Affairs as follows: ``The Special
Representative for International Labor Affairs serves as the
senior policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor on all matters related to international
labor affairs and rights; and reports directly to the Assistant
Secretary. The Special Representative alerts the Assistant
Secretary to opportunities for advancing existing policy, helps
formulate new policy approaches, and serves as a key front
office contributor to strategic thinking for the bureau in
relation to international labor affairs.''.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of
the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Education and Labor of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Internationally recognized labor rights.--The term
``internationally recognized labor rights'' means--
(A) the freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
(B) the elimination of all forms of forced or
compulsory labor;
(C) the effective prohibition and abolition of all
forms of child labor;
(D) the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation; and
(E) acceptable conditions of work with respect to
minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety
and health.
(3) Vulnerable populations.--The term ``vulnerable
populations'' means--
(A) workers who identify as women or girls;
(B) workers with disabilities;
(C) child workers above the minimum age of
employment as defined by the ILO Minimum Age
Convention;
(D) workers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, or intersex;
(E) workers from marginalized communities;
(F) migrant workers;
(G) domestic workers;
(H) workers in the informal economy;
(I) workers in non-standard forms of employment as
described by the ILO, including short-term contract
employment and home-based employment, among others; and
(J) workers who otherwise lack access to social
protection.
TITLE I--GLOBAL LABOR RIGHTS
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) support and advance internationally recognized labor
rights around the world;
(2) recognize that barriers to workers, particularly
workers who identify as women or girls, accessing their full
internationally recognized labor rights include--
(A) workplace harassment and violence, particularly
gender-based harassment and violence;
(B) lack of pay equity;
(C) lack of access to family, medical, and sick
leave;
(D) lack of access to affordable child care;
(E) lack of access to safe and adequate water and
sanitation facilities and hygienic conditions; and
(F) restrictive social and gender norms;
(3) engage governments directly and through multilateral
organizations, such as the International Labour Organization
and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
to advance internationally recognized labor rights, prevent and
respond to gender-based harassment and violence in the world of
work, and promote safe working conditions;
(4) oppose the use of force or coercion to prevent workers
from exercising their internationally recognized labor rights,
including by employers and government entities, such as the use
of police or military force;
(5) engage with labor unions, workers' organizations,
nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the private
sector, including industry associations and multistakeholder
initiatives, to strengthen respect for, and promote protection
of, internationally recognized labor rights around the world;
and
(6) support transparency regarding, and corporate
accountability for, the protection of internationally
recognized labor rights in global supply chains.
SEC. 102. FUNDING FOR GLOBAL LABOR RIGHTS.
(a) Global Labor Rights Fund.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of
the United States a fund for entities whose main purpose is to
protect and promote labor rights, to be known as the Global
Labor Rights Fund (in this section referred to as the
``Fund''), consisting of such amounts as are appropriated
pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph
(2) or otherwise appropriated or otherwise made available to
the Fund.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Fund $30,000,000, of which
$25,000,000 shall be divided between the Department of State
and the United States Agency for International Development and
$5,000,000 shall be for the International Labor Affairs Bureau
at the Department of Labor for each of fiscal years 2022
through 2028.
(3) Recipients of funds.--Funds from the Global Labor
Rights Fund shall be available to entities whose main purpose
is to protect and promote labor rights, such as labor unions
and nongovernmental organizations with a demonstrated record of
labor rights advocacy or effective implementation of labor
rights programs, and may be made available to foreign
government entities only for the purposes of providing
technical assistance for reforming labor laws, intensifying
labor law enforcement, implementing transparent reporting on
labor inspections, improving monitoring mechanisms to comply
with internationally recognized labor rights, and strengthening
the ability of dispute resolution mechanisms and the judicial
system to address labor issues in an impartial and independent
manner.
(4) Use of funds.--Amounts in the Fund shall be used to
effectively implement the following goals:
(A) To build the capacity of labor rights
organizations in foreign countries, including labor
unions, to protect internationally recognized labor
rights, including building their capacity to organize
workers into labor unions and to negotiate strong
collective bargaining agreements.
(B) To build the capacity of government entities to
protect internationally recognized labor rights only
under the conditions described in paragraph (3).
(C) To develop social protection systems that help
workers overcome barriers to accessing their full
internationally recognized labor rights, such as
promoting access to paid family, medical, and sick
leave.
(D) To safeguard and promote the rights of workers
facing discrimination, harassment, and violence,
particularly workers who identify as women or girls and
workers from other vulnerable populations, including--
(i) supporting equal pay for equal work;
(ii) supporting workers' access to justice,
including through access to quality legal
assistance;
(iii) providing protection from
retaliation; and
(iv) providing legal, psychosocial, and
other support and services during
investigations of abuse or exploitation.
(E) To support the development of worker-driven
labor monitoring and gender-sensitive complaint and
dispute resolution mechanisms.
(F) To increase the general population's awareness
of internationally recognized labor rights.
(G) To otherwise promote and protect
internationally recognized labor rights.
(5) Implementation.--In general, the Secretary of State, in
coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development and the Secretary of Labor, shall
coordinate and carry out activities to achieve the goals
described in paragraph (4).
(6) Briefing on implementation.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of State, in
coordination with the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development and the
Secretary of Labor, shall provide to the appropriate
congressional committees an annual briefing on the
programs and activities carried out to achieve the
goals described in paragraph (4) during the preceding
fiscal year and through fiscal year 2028, including all
programs and activities funded with amounts in the
Fund.
(B) Elements.--Each briefing shall include, with
respect to each program or activity described in
subparagraph (A)--
(i) a thorough description of the program
or activity;
(ii) the amount of funding for the program
or activity;
(iii) the identity of each recipient of
funding for the program or activity, including
any subgrantees;
(iv) the number of participants in the
program or activity, disaggregated by industry
or sector, age, gender identity, ethnic or
racial identity, disability, educational
attainment level, migratory status, and
occupation to the extent that participants are
willing and able to safely provide such
information;
(v) a description of the goal or goals
described in paragraph (4) to which the program
or activity relates and the indicators
established to monitor progress toward meeting
the goal or goals;
(vi) an assessment of whether or not the
program or activity met the goal or goals; and
(vii) future plans for the program or
activity, including how the progress achieved
through the program or activity will be
sustained, and resources needed for those
future plans, including appropriations.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations for Additional Labor Rights
Programming.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to the
amounts authorized to be appropriated pursuant to subsection
(a)(2), there is authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000, of
which $25,000,000 shall be divided between the Department of
State and the United States Agency for International
Development and $5,000,000 shall be for the International Labor
Affairs Bureau at the Department of Labor for each of fiscal
years 2022 through 2028 for additional labor rights
programming.
(2) Use of funds.--Amounts appropriated by this section may
be used to effectively implement the following goals:
(A) To build the capacity of labor rights
organizations in foreign countries, including labor
unions, to protect internationally recognized labor
rights, including building their capacity to organize
workers into labor unions and to negotiate strong
collective bargaining agreements.
(B) To build the capacity of other nongovernmental
organizations in foreign countries to protect
internationally recognized labor rights.
(C) To improve the capability of foreign government
entities, including legislatures, the judiciary,
government agencies, and law enforcement bodies,
especially labor law enforcement bodies, to protect
internationally recognized labor rights.
(D) To develop social protection systems that help
workers overcome barriers to accessing their full
internationally recognized labor rights, such as
promoting access to paid family, medical, and sick
leave.
(E) To safeguard and promote rights of workers
facing discrimination, harassment, and violence,
particularly workers who identify as women or girls and
workers from other vulnerable populations, including--
(i) supporting equal pay for equal work;
(ii) supporting workers' access to justice,
including through access to quality legal
assistance;
(iii) providing protection from
retaliation; and
(iv) providing legal, psychosocial, and
other support and services during
investigations of abuse or exploitation.
(F) To support the development of worker-driven
labor monitoring and gender-sensitive complaint and
dispute resolution mechanisms.
(G) To increase the general population's awareness
of internationally recognized labor rights.
(H) To otherwise promote and protect
internationally recognized labor rights.
(3) Implementation.--In general, the Secretary of State, in
coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development and the Secretary of Labor, shall
coordinate and carry out activities to achieve the goals
described in paragraph (2).
SEC. 103. GLOBAL LABOR PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Following the completion of the initial extended
six-year Global Labor Program from 2016 to 2022, the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development shall extend the
Global Labor Program an additional five years, from 2023 to 2028.
(b) Implementation.--The Global Labor Program extension shall
maintain the single-implementer model used in the first program, though
the Administrator may re-compete the award for that single implementer.
The Administrator shall consult with the Assistant Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State and
the Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs at the Department
of Labor prior to making any changes to the scope, nature, or structure
of the Global Labor Program. Any such changes shall be subject to the
regular notification procedures of the appropriate congressional
committees.
(c) Use of Funds.--Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to
subsections (a)(2) and (b)(1) of section 102, not less than $13,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2028 shall be made available for
the Global Labor Program.
SEC. 104. AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL LABOR RIGHTS.
(a) Ambassador-at-Large.--There is established the position of
United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Labor Rights (referred to
in this section as the ``Ambassador-at-Large''). The Ambassador-at-
Large shall replace the Special Representative for International Labor
Affairs position described in section 515 of volume 1 of the Foreign
Affairs Manual.
(b) Appointment.--The Ambassador-at-Large shall be appointed by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(c) Central Objective.--The central objective of the Ambassador-at-
Large is to lead and coordinate the United States Government's
diplomatic engagement with foreign governments on the promotion and
protection of internationally recognized labor rights, including the
policies described in section 101, in coordination with other agencies
and offices of the United States Government, including--
(1) other bureaus and offices of the Department of State,
particularly the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs;
(2) the United States Agency for International Development;
(3) the Department of Labor, particularly the Bureau of
International Labor Affairs;
(4) the United States Trade Representative; and
(5) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
(d) Duties and Responsibilities.--The Ambassador-at-Large shall--
(1) engage with foreign government officials, both in
bilateral and multilateral contexts, to encourage them to
promote and protect internationally recognized labor rights;
(2) engage with multilateral organizations to promote and
protect internationally recognized labor rights;
(3) engage with nongovernmental organizations to support
their efforts to promote and protect internationally recognized
labor rights;
(4) participate in the formulation of United States policy
regarding internationally recognized labor rights, including
through leading and coordinating relevant meetings at the
National Security Council and National Economic Council as
appropriate;
(5) support United States ambassadors and United States
embassy personnel, including those specifically covering labor
issues, in their efforts to promote and protect internationally
recognized labor rights; and
(6) consult on the development of United States Government
programs and activities to promote and protect internationally
recognized labor rights, including the programs and activities
described in sections 102 and 103.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the hiring of three
full-time employees to support the Ambassador-at-Large, for the conduct
of investigations by the Ambassador-at-Large, and for necessary travel
to carry out the provisions of this section.
(f) Report on Activities.--Not later than 180 days after the
appointment of the Ambassador-at-Large, and annually thereafter, the
Ambassador-at-Large shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that details the activities that were undertaken in
the preceding year under subsection (d).
SEC. 105. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO GROSS VIOLATIONS OF
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WORKERS.
(a) Global Magnitsky Sanctions.--The President shall use the
authority provided under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22
U.S.C. 2656 note) to impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons,
including foreign government officials and business owners, directors,
officers, or managing agents, and associates of such persons, that the
President determines are responsible for gross violations of the human
rights of workers.
(b) 7031(c) Sanctions.--The Secretary of State shall use the
authority provided under section 7031(c) of the Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019
(division F of Public Law 116-6; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note) and other existing
authorities to implement visa bans with respect to foreign government
officials and their immediate family members that the Secretary of
State determines are responsible for gross violations of the human
rights of workers.
SEC. 106. ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED LABOR RIGHTS.
(a) Report.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development, shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees an annual public
report on the country-by-country status of internationally
recognized labor rights in addition to the Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices.
(2) Countries covered.--The report required under paragraph
(1) shall include--
(A) all countries that receive United States
foreign assistance; and
(B) all countries in which the Secretary assesses
that there are challenges to the implementation of
internationally recognized labor rights.
(3) Elements.--The report required by this section shall
include the following elements:
(A) A description of the extent to which the labor
laws of the country, broken down by their analogous
characterization to the laws of the United States
Government as administrative, civil, common, and
criminal laws, protect all internationally recognized
labor rights and of whether they apply to all workers
or whether certain categories of workers are excluded
from some protections.
(B) A description of efforts by the government of
the country to bring laws up to international standards
to protect internationally recognized labor rights.
(C) A description of the nature and extent of
violations of internationally recognized labor rights
in each country covered.
(D) A description of the roles vulnerable
populations hold in the world of work, the share of the
workforce they comprise, and the unequal treatment they
face.
(E) For each country in which violations of
internationally recognized labor rights are identified,
an assessment of the efforts by the government of that
country to prevent and respond to such violations,
including the following elements:
(i) Whether government officials in that
country participate in, facilitate, or condone
such violations.
(ii) What steps the government of that
country has taken to prohibit government
officials at the national or subnational
officials from participating in, facilitating,
benefitting from, or condoning such violations.
(iii) What steps the government of that
country has taken to assist victims of such
violations, including efforts to protect them
from further victimization, provision of
services including physical and mental health
care, provision of legal support and access to
justice through civil proceedings as well as
criminal, and grants of relief from deportation
as appropriate.
(iv) Which government authorities in that
country are involved with preventing and
identifying such violations and the capacity of
those authorities, including numbers of
personnel dedicated to activities such as labor
inspections.
(v) The effectiveness of the country's
administrative state, other civil authorities,
law enforcement authorities, and judicial
system in enforcing appropriate regulations and
laws in response to such violations, including
how many personnel are dedicated to addressing
such violations, the frequency with which such
violations are investigated and prosecuted, the
durations and outcomes of such cases, and the
transparency of outcomes.
(F) An assessment of the extent to which labor
unions, labor rights organizations, and other civil
society actors that work on labor rights issues, and
media that report on labor rights issues, have the
space to operate and of the extent to which the
government engages in dialogue with them.
(4) Consultations.--In preparing the report, United States
diplomatic mission personnel shall consult with labor unions,
labor rights organizations, human rights organizations,
including women's rights groups, and other appropriate
nongovernmental organizations.
(b) Embassy Labor Attache.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor, in coordination
with the Secretary of State, shall create a senior attache
position to lead interagency coordination of the labor
portfolio of the United States mission in each country
consistently identified in the report required under subsection
(a)(1) as having a poor performance record in the area of labor
rights.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to create the
attache positions for each country.
SEC. 107. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WORK
ON LABOR RIGHTS.
(a) Assessment.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of the
work of the United States Government on labor rights around the world.
(b) Elements.--The assessment required under subsection (a) shall
include a description of what is known about the following:
(1) The extent to which each of the internationally
recognized labor rights has been included in United States
Government foreign policy and programming.
(2) Any labor rights not included within the definition of
internationally recognized labor rights that have been included
in United States Government foreign policy and programming.
(3) What resources, including funding and personnel, the
United States Government has dedicated to the promotion and
protection of internationally recognized labor rights, and the
extent to which those resources have been dedicated to
vulnerable populations around the world.
(4) A description of the types of programming the United
States Government has implemented to promote and protect
internationally recognized labor rights in the past 6 years
around the world.
(5) The extent to which the United States Government
programs described in paragraph (4) achieved their intended
goals.
(6) Specific internationally recognized labor rights or
countries for which the resources dedicated to date have been
insufficient to meet the goals of the United States.
(7) The mechanisms for interagency coordination on
internationally recognized labor rights, the efficacy of said
mechanisms, and recommendations for improvements.
TITLE II--LABOR RIGHTS IN BANGLADESH
SEC. 201. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In June 2013, two months after the April 2013 Rana
Plaza garment factory disaster that claimed the lives of over
one thousand ready-made garment (RMG) factory workers, the
United States suspended the participation of Bangladesh in the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program due to the
failure of the Government of Bangladesh to recognize the labor
rights of RMG workers.
(2) In the March 2020 report ``Seven Years After Rana
Plaza, Significant Challenges Remain'' (in this section
referred to as the ``Report''), the minority staff of the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate (in this section
referred to as the ``Committee'') found that, 7 years after the
Rana Plaza garment factory disaster, improvements have been
made to the structural safety of many factories in Bangladesh,
but labor rights have declined precipitously.
(3) The Report highlighted the increasing abuse of workers,
particularly union leaders and organizers, in ready-made
garment factories in Bangladesh and the lack of accountability
for the perpetrators.
(4) The Report emphasized that workers who identify as
women or girls face disproportionate levels of abuse, and this
gender-based violence and harassment is a violation of the ILO
Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 ILO (No. 190).
(5) The Report detailed the deteriorating environment for
union organizers and activists in Bangladesh, including
violence and repression during worker protests over the minimum
wage in December 2018 and January 2019 as well as lack of
enforcement of Bangladesh law on unfair labor practices.
(6) In the Report, the Committee found that the Department
of Labor, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of
the Department of State, and the United States Agency for
International Development expended only $23,200,000 on labor
rights programs in Bangladesh between 2011 and the release of
the Report.
SEC. 202. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) protect and promote internationally recognized labor
rights in Bangladesh;
(2) support, in its capacity as a member of the ILO's
Governing Body of the International Labour Office, the proposal
to establish an ILO Commission of Inquiry on Bangladesh in
response to violations of the ILO Convention on the Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, the ILO
Convention on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining,
and the ILO Labor Inspection Convention; and
(3) urge other members of the ILO governing body to support
the establishment of an ILO Commission of Inquiry on
Bangladesh.
SEC. 203. UPDATED LABOR RIGHTS AND WORKER SAFETY COMMITMENTS FOR
BANGLADESH.
The President shall work with the Government of Bangladesh to
update the previous commitments by the Government of Bangladesh
regarding labor rights and worker safety to reflect the new and ongoing
challenges to internationally recognized labor rights in Bangladesh.
SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Of the amount authorized to be appropriated under section 102(a),
not less than $3,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for
programming that supports labor unions in order to promote labor rights
in Bangladesh for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2028.
SEC. 205. EMBASSY DHAKA LABOR ATTACHE.
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of
State, shall deploy a senior attache or envoy to lead interagency
coordination of the labor portfolio at the United States Embassy in
Dhaka.
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