Even as the Government has asked all the industrial units to pay workers’ April wages and festival allowance by 10 May, following a tripartite meeting between factory owners and workers’ representatives and Government officials, there are apprehensions of labour unrest in at least 538 manufacturing units, including textile mills and apparel factories, across Bangladesh over payment of wages and festival allowance ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Reports maintained this citing the concerned officials.
The reports further underlined that of the 538 factories, some 143 are non-RMG units that also run the risks of witnessing labour unrest while 261 are the members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), as per the Industrial Police (IP) even as 76 are registered with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and 33 are affiliated with the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) while 25 factories, listed with the IP and are under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), might also face unrest over non-payment of wages and other allowances.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Sirajul Islam Rony, a union leader and former member of the minimum wage board for garment workers, reportedly, maintained that like previous years, some factories might face difficulties in paying workers in the final days ahead of the Eid vacation even as according to the IP, a total of 158 factories were yet to pay wages for the month of March last, of which around 68 are non-RMG factories while 49 are listed with BGMEA, 14 BKMEA, 15 BTMA and eight with BEPZA.
