A tense situation prevails in the ready-made garment sector as an intelligence agency report hints that violence may erupt in garment factories, especially those in Dhaka, centring the non-payment of wages and festival bonuses.
The Home Ministry is observing the ongoing situation. It has already issued a letter and asked the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to immediately take initiatives in this regard.
RMG workers have already started staging protests in the capital’s Badda, Rampura and Mirpur areas, demanding the payment of their arrears.
Unrest in the RMG sector takes place almost every year just before Eid over the payment of workers’ arrears and bonuses. The workers take to the streets to press home their demands, causing long tailbacks on highways.
Law enforcers baton-charge the workers to bring the situation under control, resulting in clashes. Such a situation might arise in many garment factories in the capital this year, according to special reports of special branch and industrial police.
Abdus Salam, deputy inspector general of Industrial Police, said they were trying their best to ensure that the workers got their wages in due time. “Garment factory owners have also assured us they would pay the workers their salaries and bonuses,” he said.
Despite all-out efforts, unrest might occur in some garment factories centring salary and bonus. “We are trying to figure out the reasons after identifying the factories,” he explained.
As part of the move, they held talks with a number of factory owners and discussed the issue. “The factory owners have yet to show reluctance over the payment of wages,” he added.
Preferring anonymity, a high official of the Home Ministry said intelligence officials and police had identified 133 garment factories in the capital and Dhaka district where unrest might take place, apart from seven factories in Narayanganj.
BKMEA Vice-President Mohammad Hatem said a number of factories face trouble every month over the non-payment of wages due to various problems, including delays in shipment.
But the situation turns worse during the festival. “We hope the problems will be solved,” he said.
BGMEA President Atiqul Islam said the owners face problems as they have to pay the workers’ salary for the month of July. “We usually pay the workers their salaries for July in August, but we have to pay them in the current month.”
Besides, the owners have to pay festival allowances and as a result, it is very difficult for a number of factories to pay their workers’ salaries.
“We sought support from the banks and we are closely monitoring the situation,” Atiqul told the Dhaka Tribune over the phone yesterday.
According to the intelligence report, violence might erupt in 124 factories which failed to pay the workers salaries for the last month.
The workers of Toba Group’s garments factory in Badda took to the streets since they had not paid for the last three months.
Sources claimed that uncertainty looms over the payment of salaries and bonuses in some factories among the 1,200 factories which are not the members of BGMEA. Of the total 4,300 factories listed with BGMEA, 3,300 are now operative.
There are also 1,000 more listed factories under BKMEA. All these factories would have to pay Eid bonuses as per the new wage structure that was announced in December last year.
