Close on heels of reported large-scale sacking of workers by garment manufacturing units in the wake of the recent workers’ agitation, labour union leaders in Bangladesh have called upon the authorities to reinstate the sacked workers, release the arrested workers and withdraw the cases filed against them.
IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) Secretary General Salauddin Shapon, on behalf of all trade union leaders, reportedly made the demands at a press conference at the National Press Club in capital Dhaka recently.
“As of yesterday, owners of 99 apparel factories have fired over 11,000 RMG workers — the highest number ever — over the recent unrest at Ashulia, Savar and Gazipur. The Government has to withdraw the cases filed against the innocent workers and the owners have to reinstate the jobs of sacked workers.” – Salauddin Shapon, Secretary General, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC)
It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh on September 13, 2018, set Taka 8,000 as the new minimum monthly wage for the country’s apparel workers, which came into effect from December 2018.
Following this, apparel workers staged demonstrations, from the last week of December till the first week of January this year, demanding revision of the wage structure as they found discrepancies in some grades. Later on January 13, in face of continued workers’ protests, the Government revised the wage structure again.