Ahead of the holy festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, which is just round the corner, the State Minister for Labour and Employment, Begum Monnujan Sufian, has called upon the garment factory owners to pay the workers’ wages and festival bonus by today (Monday), so as to enable the workers enjoy the holy festival.
Meanwhile, Senior Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), SM Mannan Kochi, has, reportedly, claimed that around 79 per cent of garment factories had paid workers’ wages and bonus by 9 April (Sunday) even as he went on to add that a few factories were unable to pay wages every year and that BGMEA was monitoring those units and maintained that as per the direction of the ministry, factories are urged to pay the workers for the extra work they have done.
It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of Labour had convened a meeting with the labour unions and the garment manufacturers on 9 April — State Minister for Labour Begum Monnujan Sufian, representatives of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Labour Secretary KM Abdus Salam and leaders of labour unions attended the meeting — in which it was decided that each individual apparel manufacturing unit will decide on extended Eid holidays and that no general directive would be passed by the BGMEA in this direction.
