The stakeholders of the country鈥檚 readymade garment sector said that the payment of wages and allowances in the sector would be cleared ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
According to the Industrial Police and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, most factories have already paid the wages for February and are now disbursing the wages for the 15 days of March.
They also said that a major portion of the RMG factories have already paid the Eid bonuses, and the rest will soon. All the payments will be cleared before the starting of the Eid holidays.
So far, 2,069 factory units among 2,107 operational factory units have provided the February wages.
Moreover, about 30 factories have already cleared 15 days or a full month鈥檚 wages for March, and more than half of the total RMG factory units have already paid the Eid bonuses.
Industrial Police, manufacturers, and labour leaders expressed their optimism that the situation of wages, bonuses, and Eid transport would be much better than the past year鈥檚 situation.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Hashibul Alam, additional DIG (operation and crime) of the Industrial Police, said several factories have started disbursing wages and festival allowances ahead of Eid.
鈥楿sually, the factory authorities disburse wages and bonuses on different dates. As example, a factory authority may provide the wages on March 25, and bonuses on March 29, at the last working day before starting Eid holiday,鈥� he added.
He also said that they could not see any tension regarding the disbursement of the payments ahead of Eid, and he is rather optimistic that the workers would be paid in time.
However, the sector witnessed unrest in the Bhogra bypass area of Gazipur on Saturday, which led to the closure of around 30 RMG factory units.
According to 抖阴精品鈥檚 Gazipur correspondent, the workers of a number of RMG factories took to the streets in various demands including wages, allowances and eid holidays.
Sources said that Giant Knit Fashion Ltd was declared closed under 13/1 of the Bangladesh Labour Act due to the workers鈥� protests.
After that, the authorities of around 30 factories declared general holidays in fear of vandalism and arson attacks.
Talking to 抖阴精品, AKM Johirul Islam, superintendent of police of Industrial Police-2 (Gazipur), said that issues between the workers and management of Giant Knit Fashion led the authority to close the factory.
In this regard, the authorities of other garments also declared their factory units closed.
鈥楬owever, it was for a time being. After returning of normalcy, the authorities of the maximum factories called their workers to join work,鈥� he added.
Regarding the wages and allowances of the factories in the Gazipur hub, he said that the factories are gradually clearing the wages and bonuses for the workers.
鈥楳arch 27 is Thursday, and we hope by this date, most of the factories will be able to pay their wages and bonuses. We don鈥檛 see any tensions regarding this,鈥� he added.
The law enforcement agency also stated they are closely monitoring the risky factories.
Chattogram correspondent of 抖阴精品 said that the workers of JMS Garments Limited staged a protest in Chattogram EPZ area on Saturday morning, blocking roads to demand their unpaid salaries. The demonstration caused severe traffic congestion in the area.
The protest began around 9:00am, with workers gathering in the EPZ road area. By 1:30pm, police intervened and dispersed them from the road.聽
Former BGMEA director Mohiuddin Rubel told 抖阴精品 that a number of factories couldn鈥檛 clear their payments due to weekends in the banks.
鈥楬owever, we hope by March 25, the festival allowances of the most factories will be cleared, and, before starting the Eid holidays, the half wage of March and other allowances will also be paid,鈥� he added.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Babul Akhter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, said that the situation in the sector is much better than it appeared from the outside.
鈥楳ost of the RMG factories have already paid their bonuses and will pay the half wages of March soon,鈥� he added, saying that the situation seems complex due to three significant facts.
These are the pending wage issues of closed factories like Beximco, the payment of a full wage, Eid bonuses, and a half wage in the same month, and the last one is the frequent protests of the workers, even in ridiculous issues.
鈥楬owever, we hope that everything will be cleared before the Eid holidays start. Due to Friday and Saturday, the disbursement of bonuses witnessed a sluggishness, which will be solved on Sunday next,鈥� he said.
The Eid-ul-Fitr may be celebrated on March 31 or April 1 based on sighting the moon.
