Garment exporters’ association BGMEA has agreed to pay two months’ wages to more than 1,600 workers of the Tuba Group, but not before the prime minister’s intervention.
However, the agitating workers have rejected the proposal demanding all their dues be paid altogether.
At least 1,200 workers of five factories of the Tuba Group have been fasting for seven days at the Hossain Market in the capital’s Badda area, demanding payment of three months’ wages, overtime and Eid bonuses.
Around 90 workers have fallen sick from days of fasting and 15 of them, in critical conditions, have been admitted to various hospitals in the city.
The fateful Tazreen Fashions, where a factory fire killed more than a hundred people in November 2012, belonged to this group. The group’s Managing Director Delowar Hossain was arrested last year on charges of showing “negligence” which led to the factory fire.
The group’s management has been saying that it could not pay the dues for May, June and July and the Eid bonuses as the banks would not give them the fund unless their owner was freed.
However, the group paid all the dues to the workers of two of its factories before Eid. The fact that the managing director was in jail did not prevent them from getting the funds out of banks.
“At 10am on Wednesday, the BGMEA will pay the workers their wages for May and June at the BGMEA Building in the capital. On August 10, the factory authorities will clear the workers’ July wages. The other dues will also be cleared soon,” said Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan at a press conference after a meeting with BGMEA and labour leaders yesterday.
State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu told the Dhaka Tribune that he and the shipping minister went to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss a way out of the situation. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed was also present during the meeting.
Chunnu quoted the premier as saying: “Go to the BGMEA and tell them what I told you. No matter what it takes, solve the crisis.”
He also said: “We have put pressure on the BGMEA to pay the workers’ dues. We asked them to manage by hook or by crook.”
Later in the day, the BGMEA announced at a press conference that it was going to pay the dues for the month May and June to the workers of the five factories.
Until yesterday, the BGMEA had been saying that paying the dues of individual groups was not their job. It had also been echoing Tuba Group management’s indirect demand for Delowar’s release.
“The BGMEA has agreed to pay the wages for May and June on humanitarian grounds, especially considering the sufferings that the workers have been going through,” said BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim.
“The well-off members of BGMEA will contribute to the fund that will be used to pay the workers of the Tuba Group. The contributions will be considered as loans and the factory owners will repay the money after resolving the crisis,” Azim said.
When asked why the arrangement was not made before the Eid when the workers needed the money most, he said: “The BGMEA members were busy paying the due wages at their own factories.”
Regarding the release of Delowar, who has reportedly secured ad interim bail from the High Court, Azim said: “We will pay the workers. His [Delowar’s] freedom will not make a difference.”
Seeking anonymity, a meeting source told the Dhaka Tribune: “The BGMEA leaders first agreed to pay one month’s wage; but later on, in the face of pressure from the labour leaders and the ministers, they agreed to pay two months’ wages.”
The labour leader said there was still some uncertainty over the payment of the July dues and Eid bonuses because there had been no clear directive.
Meanwhile, Moshrefa Mishu, president of the Garment Workers’ Unity Forum, said: “We will withdraw only when the authorities pay us full three months’ dues.”
The forum has expressed solidarity with the agitating workers and Mishu has been working as their spokesperson since the beginning of the fasting.
Before the BGMEA reached the decision to pay their dues, the workers of Tuba Group announced a programme to lay siege to the BGMEA building on Tuesday. They also made an announcement to lay siege to the Labour Ministry today.
“We will not accept any proposal until the BGMEA or the government comes here with our all dues,” said Md Faruq Hossain, one of the agitating workers.
There are allegations that most labour leaders, who attended the meeting with BGMEA and the ministers yesterday, were seldom seen at the place where the labourers were fasting; neither do they have any proper link with the factories.
The five units of Tuba Group, whose workers have not got their dues, are Tuba Fashion, Tuba Textile, Mita Design, Taif Design and Bughsan Garments.
The group requires around Tk4.13 crore to pay all the outstanding amounts to the workers.
