The government has advised the owners of readymade garment factories to pay the monthly wages and Eid bonuses of workers by August 6 in orderto avoid labour unrest.
Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir conveyed the government directive to the leaders of BGMEA and BKMEA in a meeting at the ministry on Sunday afternoon.
After the meeting,the home minister told journalists that the government would try to ensure that the garment workers got their wages and bonuses by the given date.
He said directives were also given to financial institutions to take necessary steps in order to make sure that the factory owners could draw the requiredmoney from the banks within the specified time.
Alamgir also warned that stern actions would be taken if any factory did not follow the orders.
When asked about the possibility of more labour unrest, the minister said: “We do not have any information on the likeliness of any such unrest as yet.”
He also said: “If anyone tries to instigate unrest, they will be stopped.”
The BGMEA has promised to form a monitoring cell to check whether all the workers got their payments before Eid, the minister said.
When asked how the owners of the factories facing financial difficulties would follow the order, Alamgir said: “In Bangladesh, no factory owner makes payments on bank loans. They do so with their profit.Now, the owners of the problem factories will have to decide how they will deal it.”
After the meeting, BGMEA president M Atiqul Islam told journalist that the owners of different factories will pay salaries and Eid bonus for all workers by August 7.
"Although it will be difficult for us to pay salaries and Eid bonus for workers, we will pay it by August 6 or 7," he told BSS.