The country's garment makers are now working on how to implement the Better Work Programme of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to establish a better industrial relationship between the workers and the factory managements.

Lejo Sibbel, ILO's senior design adviser of the Better Work Programme, and Md. Shafiul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), discussed the details of the programme at a meeting at the BGMEA office in the capital yesterday.

In 2009, the US Department of Labour instructed Bangladesh government to implement the ILO's Better Work Programme, according to a statement of the BGMEA.

The call came at a time when a Bangladeshi business team went to the US to attend a hearing of the United States Trade Representative for gaining duty benefits under the generalised system of preferences scheme.