Why does labour unrest drag on?
FROM PAGE B1
Moreover, the timing of the episode meant that local exporters received nearly 10 percent fewer work orders for the next autumn and winter seasons.
However, normalcy has been restored with the adoption of the 18-point charter as a majority of factories implemented the measures outlined in the agreement.
However, 19 factories could not implement it fully. As a result, unrest broke out again in those factories.
They failed to implement the changes due to a plethora of reasons, including the fact that some of the owners are abroad while others are in jail because of their political affiliations. Others are failing to avail loans from banks and are overburdened with instalments.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said the problem had been resolved at two to three factories.
The owners of the affected factories are either in jail, abroad or do not have the financial capacity to pay salaries, he said.
For the latest resolution, the government lent Tk 16 crore to TNZ Group so it could resolve problems in paying the workers of its Gazipur unit. Of the amount, Tk 10 crore was sourced from the finance ministry and Tk 6 crore from the Central Fund.
Following such assurances, workers withdrew their blockade along the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway on Monday night.
Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, yesterday warned factory owners to pay workers timely and to implement the minimum wage structure.
“Otherwise, the government will appoint administrators to those factories,” he said.
Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation, said the financial condition of garment workers is dire now due to inflation, which has hovered above 9 percent since March last year.
“On top of that, they do not get timely wages from factory owners,” he lamented.
Some workers have not been paid for two to three months, so they took to the streets to realise their demands, he said.
He added that the latest spell of unrest took place in specific factories because they were not paying workers timely although a tripartite agreement in September said arrears would be cleared very soon.
Md Towhidur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Apparels Workers Federation, echoed Amin’s views.
The workers are unable to trust union leaders or factory owners as they were not paid timely despite several assurances in the past, he said.
Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, the immediate past president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the association had warned factories to pay workers timely.
All factory owners are not adhering to the conditions in the 18-point agreement, he also said.
As a result, workers are taking to the streets to demand timely payment, he added.