Labour and Employment Adviser Brigadier General (Retd) Dr M Sakhawat Hussain on Saturday said the government will pay dues of the workers after selling houses, cars and lands of the factory owners, who fled the country following the July uprising.
The adviser made the statement while addressing the chief guest at a shadow cabinet on workers and owners' relations to protect the labour rights. Debate for Democracy organized the debate marking the great May Day 2025, said a press release here.
“Many ministers, members of parliament of the fallen government have fled the country and are hiding abroad. Initiatives are being taken to pay the dues of the workers after selling their houses, vehicles and lands,” the adviser said.
Apart from this, he said that he had already talked about the matter of issuing red alerts through Interpol against the factory owners to bring them back home who had fled the country without paying the dues of the labourers.
Stressing the need for maintaining good relations between the owners and labourers, Sakhawat said: “The mentality of taking care of workers by the owners has not yet been developed. We’re always in favour of the workers. At the same time, we have to look after the owners. We want unity among them.”
The adviser has blamed the previous criminalization for the failure in the industrial sector.
“The owner of a factory is also a leader of a political party, and a lawmaker as well. In such a way, the rule and exploitation were carried out in the past,” he said.
Sakhawat said workers took part in the July movement massively alongside the students due to their long exploitation.
He said the Rana Plaza incident took place due to negligence of the government, and rescuing one female worker, Reshma, from under the debris of the plaza was a “planned drama”.
Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment AHM Shafiquzzaman was present at the function as the special guest with Chairman for the Debate for Democracy Hassan Ahamed Chowdhury Kiron in the chair.
