After over a week of protests, where RMG workers have been on the streets in various parts of Dhaka, demanding a restructuring of the new wage structure proposed by the government last month, there finally appears a resolution, and it is a good one.
Sadly, despite the government’s revision of the new wage structure -- which has brought additional changes in six grades, and decisions that have mostly been accepted and welcomed by trade union leaders who were present during the discussions -- the protests are still raging, and continue to have a crippling effect on the country.
BGMEA has already pointed out that factories will need to shut down if workers continue their movement; not to mention that employees cannot get paid if operations do not resume.
While workers have the right to be heard, and issues and grievances need to be brought to the table, an indefinite campaign on the streets serves no productive purpose; instead, it hurts the economy, hurts jobs, and hurts common citizens.
It is important that the workers pay heed to the solution proposed -- the government has put forward a revised wage structure in six grades, and if workers choose to continue these protests despite committees being formed and the matter discussed with the workers’ input, workers will be hurting their own cause.
It is, then, in the best interest of all parties -- the workers, the owners, the RMG industry, and the country as a whole -- to end the protests and allow a return to normalcy.
