According to the latest report of Industrial Police, 2,282 readymade garment and textile factories are yet to clear half or full wages for March.
The report said that, so far, only 608 or 21 per cent of the total 2,890 operational factories had cleared half or full wages for March.
Moreover, 2,349 factories or 81 per cent of the total have already cleared payment of festival allowances for Eid-ul-Fitr, while 541 factory units have yet to do so.
Eid-ul-Fitr, on the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, is expected to be held at the end of March subject to moon-sighting.
Among the operational factories, 122 RMG and textile units are yet to clear their workers鈥� wages for February, according to a report from the Industrial Police on Thursday.
The IP said that there were currently 2,890 operational factories under the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority.
According to the IP report, 2,768 factories have paid February wages to their workers.
Meanwhile, the IP data said that the country had 9,695 factories, including jute mills and others.
According to Industrial Police data, 7,230 factories or 74.57 per cent of the total have cleared festival allowances and 2,471 or 25 per cent factories have cleared the wages for March.
According to the Bangladesh Labour Law, 2006, workers鈥� wages from the previous month must be paid within the first seven working days of the following month.
Meanwhile, according to the BGMEA Factory Monitoring Report, about 1,997 units or 95 per cent of the 2,207 operational RMG factories in the Dhaka and Chattogram zones鈥� member factories have cleared their disbursement of Eid allowances.
Moreover, 99.53 per cent or 2,097 factories have cleared their February wages.
Workers of TNZ Group continued their sit-in protest for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday in front of Shrama Bhaban at Bijoynagar in the capital Dhaka, demanding two months鈥� due wages and festival allowance.
Labour leaders said that despite government claims of payment through asset sales, most workers had not received their dues, with some only getting Tk 6,000-7,000. Workers of TNZ Apparels Limited and Apparel Plus Eco Limited have been protesting since March 23, while Apparel Art Limited鈥檚 employees joined them on Thursday.
Shaheen Alam, labour leader from Apparel Plus, said that they were demanding wages for January, February and March, along with festival allowances. TNZ Apparels鈥� Towhidul Islam warned of hard movements, even on Eid, if their demands remained unmet.
On Thursday afternoon, workers marched from Shrama Bhaban through Paltan and Press Club.
On Tuesday, police used batons, sound grenades and teargas near the Secretariat, injuring at least 40 protesters.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken proactive steps to address payment of wages and festival allowances for industrial sector workers.
In a press conference on Thursday, labour adviser Brigadier General (retired) M Shakhawat Hossain said that considering the plight of workers at ROARE Fashion, the ministry had disbursed Tk 12.33 crore from its central emergency fund. However, this support is a one-time intervention and will not be extended to other companies, he said.
Regarding TNZ Group鈥檚 Apparel Eco Limited, he said that following a decision made in the ministry鈥檚 labour dispute resolution meeting on March 25, TNZ Group鈥檚 Apparel Eco Limited had settled its workers鈥� wages and allowances by selling company assets, including vehicles.
Moreover, the Bangladesh Bank disbursed Tk 11 crore for Mahmud Group workers.
He also said that the issues of Stylecraft and Youngone BD Limited would be resolved through negotiation.
BGMEA administrator Md Anwar Hossain said聽 that they were trying to clear workers鈥� wages and festival allowances before Eid and urged the commercial banks to release funds of Tk 2,250 crore disbursed as cash incentives.
He also said that all RMG workers would be paid before Eid and would be able to celebrate the happy festival.