The country's garment factories have started paying wages, allowances, and Eid bonuses ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival for Muslims.
According to the industry insiders, there are no concerns about larger apparel factories, but there are still concerns about non-member, small and sub-contract factories.
They also said that many apparel factories have already given festival bonuses to the workers. However, the rate of paying wages for the 15 days of the current month is still low.
Manufacturers said that factories are now paying either wages or bonuses while the rest will be paid just before the Eid holidays.
According to the industrial police, there are at least 2,688 garments and textile factories in Gazipur, Narayanganj, Ashulia-Savar, Mymensingh, Khulna, Comilla–the big hubs of the apparel industry.
Among them, 1,336 or more factories 45%-50% have cleared the festival bonuses as of April 26, according to industrial police data.
Meanwhile, the 15-day wage payment rate for the current month is negligible compared to the festival bonuses, only 11% or more factories have paid 15 days' wage for the month of April.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said that the factories have started paying wages, allowances, and Eid bonuses.
“If there are any problems with the payment of wages and bonuses, we will work to solve these,” he added.
He also said that hopefully, there will be no big problems with the payment of wages, allowances, and bonuses.
“We hope that by this week all the factories will complete paying their wages, allowances, and bonuses,” he added.
He also said that the factories will get Eid holidays step by step where the first phase of the holidays will start on Friday (April 29).
Moreover, some factories will be starting holidays on Saturday (April 30) and the rest will be closed on Sunday (May 1), he added.
Babul Akhtar, chairman of Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), said that factories have started paying the wages and bonuses to their workers, and hopefully it will be completed on the stipulated date.
“Every day, several factories are paying wages and bonuses. We cannot tell the exact percentage right now but the rate is increasing day by day,” he added.
He also said that there is no problem with wages and bonuses in big and association member factories.
“Most of the big factories have already fixed the date of payment of their wages and bonuses, how long they will be on Eid holiday, etc. through internal meetings before the directives of the labour minister,” he added.
There are problems in non-member and sub-contract small factories. They cannot pay wages and bonuses at the stipulated date which leads to labour unrest.
“We are monitoring the situation,” he added.
However, manufacturers said that despite the purchase orders, some factories have not been able to export enough garments in the last two months due to gas and electricity problems.
That is why they have failed to submit the required documents to the bank and didn’t get the money timely. Even then, they are trying to pay wages and allowances in any way they can, they added.
Earlier, on April 11, the State Minister for Labour Monnujan Sufian asked factory owners and authorities to pay allowances, wages and other dues to workers before the start of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
She also instructed the owners to pay at least 15 days' wages of April to workers before Eid in case they fail to make the full month's payment.