Owners asked to pay RMG workers’ wages, bonus by tomorrow

Trackback URL

Download PDF

The government yesterday asked garment factory owners again to pay the wages and Eid bonuses to their workers by tomorrow to avert any uncalled for incident before the Eid-ul-Fitr, but the owners said it will be ‘very tough’ for many of them to comply with the government request.

Leaders of the readymade garments (RMG) sector sought cooperation from the government in getting soft bank loans to pay the workers’ salaries and bonuses.

Warning the factory owners of possible lawsuits under the labour law for not ensuring minimum wages in their factories, the government also expressed its stance of zero tolerance towards any kind of provocation for violence in the sector, and ordered law enforcement agencies to bring to book any worker, trade union leader or non-governmental organisation (NGO) if they are found to be involved in such provocations.

“We want to avoid any kind of unwanted situation before the Eid. Pay the wages and bonuses by October 11 anyhow, so the workers can celebrate the Eid without any difficulty,” Labour and Employment Adviser Anwarul Iqbal told the RMG sector leaders at a meeting yesterday.

The three-member advisory council on law and order on October 4 asked garment factory owners to pay the workers their wages and bonuses by October 11, so nobody can bank on the workers’ resentment to create unrest in the sector.

Intelligence agency officials yesterday pointed out that 31 garment unit managements in Narayanganj, 93 in Gazipur, and some in Mirpur of the capital expressed their inability to pay the workers’ wages and bonuses by tomorrow.

“Business was not good in July, August and September due to the ramification of the political unrest at the beginning of the year; we’re not in a good position,” said Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Pointing out that it will be difficult for many factory owners to meet the October 11 deadline, he said, “We earlier used to pay the workers their bonuses and basic salaries before the Eid and the rest we used to pay when they would come back to work again. By fixing the deadline for both the salaries and the bonuses, the government is pitting us against the workers.”

The BGMEA president, however, was hopeful about being able to pay the workers before the Eid, as the Bankers’ Association assured them on Monday of ‘out of the way payment’ on the basis of their January to June performance following their request for the soft loans.

If the owners fail to pay the workers their wages and bonuses, Adviser Anwarul Iqbal suggested, they should sit with the workers to explain their constraints and a possible date for the payment. “The government will not take any responsibility,” the labour adviser said.

Differing with the government proposal for a unified bonus policy, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Haq said such a regime will deprive the workers who are now getting higher bonuses than some of the workers in other factories.

The defaulters in implementing the minimum wage have been given one month’s notice and the government will take them to the Labour Court and lodge cases against them if they fail to comply, the adviser said.

Of the 2,818 members of BGMEA, 65 have yet to pay their workers the minimum wages, the BGMEA president told the meeting adding that they are working to persuade the non-complying 65 to implement the rule in their factories.

Saying that the factories that pay the minimum wages and are members of BGMEA or BKMEA also get affected when there is unrest in the factories that do not pay the minimum wages and are not members of either of the two owners’ associations, Adviser Anwarul Iqbal sought the sector leaders’ suggestions regarding the matter.

“We can’t be responsible for them! You can do anything with them, you can even shut them down!” BGMEA President Anwar Parvez told the labour adviser.

The labour adviser suggested the RMG leaders not to let such errant units get sub-contracts.

When the BGMEA president requested the adviser for Rab and army patrol in Ashulia, Gazipur, and Narayanganj areas as a precautionary measure for preventing any outbreak of violence over trivial issues, the adviser asked them to specify the factories in those areas where such occurrences might take place.

Criticising the garment owners for sudden shut downs of factories, the adviser said, “No way can this be called proper management.”

A day before the workers of Nassa Garments erupted in violence in Tejgaon on September 22 over iftar allowance, an owner of the factory declined to even talk with the agitating workers, saying he has 20 factories and that he didn’t bother if he had to shut down one of them, complained a high level police official of Dhaka.

“He bowed to the workers’ demand only after they had taken to the street damaging public properties. Isn’t it then only normal for the workers to think that they cannot achieve anything without resorting to violence?” he demanded an answer from the RMG factory owners.

“Sit with your workers, solve the problems of your factories. Why should other people suffer if your workers turn violent and take to the streets?” the labour adviser asked.

He also asked the owners to contact the Crisis Management Cell of the RMG sector if any problem develops in any factory, so that the cell can help to settle the matter peacefully.

The adviser asked the police administration to call in reinforcement from outside of Dhaka, if necessary, to strengthen the patrolling in the garment factory areas.

The adviser also asked the police to file cases against the organisers of any protest march brought out while the state of emergency is in effect.

When the representatives of intelligence agencies and the BKMEA president said some leaders of the 42 workers’ federations and NGOs are involved in instigating labour unrest in the RMG sector, the adviser asked the Special Branch of police and the National Security Intelligence officials to create a list of the federations and NGOs involved in such activities.

He also underscored the need for bringing reforms to the labour federations and NGOs working in the sector.

Meanwhile, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday stressed on the need for forming a committee to ensure wages and bonuses for the workers in the RMG sector.

He said, “A committee is needed, which will scrutinise the issues related to workers’ interests as well as to make sure that the owners take care of their responsibilities.”

Presiding over the seventh meeting of the social compliance forum for the RMG sector at the ministry of commerce, he also assured the garment factory owners of releasing the cash incentives for them soon.

“I will discuss the issue with the central bank today so that the cash incentive is released as soon as possible,” the adviser said yesterday.

Leave a Reply