Several initiatives have been taken by the owners as well as the government to stop the labor unrest in the garment industry which is the main sector of export earnings. But labor dissatisfaction in this sector, which is the main earner of foreign exchange, does not seem to stop. Many say that some factory owners along with the workers are working to destabilize the sector in a planned way. Several owners are reluctant to pay the wages of the workers even though they are doing business.
Those concerned say that unrest has been created by not paying salaries. The owners of several companies are now fleeing abroad. Workers are not being paid on the grounds that the owner is not in the country. As a result, the workers are getting the opportunity to protest. Workers' discontent in the country's garment sector intensified, especially over the demand for outstanding salaries for the month of October. Workers of various factories in Savar, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur and Mirpur have been protesting and blocking the streets without getting their salaries.
Those concerned fear that the unrest may increase if the workers' salary issue is not resolved quickly.
Workers protested by blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for one hour from 9:30 am to 10 am on Wednesday (November 13). At this time, vehicles were stuck on both sides of the road and a long traffic jam was created.
It is known that the agitators are workers of the local Tara Tex Fashion Limited factory. It is located on Auchpara Naimuddin Mollah Road, Tongir. About two thousand workers work in the factory. They are due their salaries for the month of October. According to the rules, the salary is supposed to be paid by the 7th of the current month. But the workers blocked the road because the factory authorities did not pay them.
Meanwhile, the workers of Apparels-21 Limited (Lithi Group) factory in Baniyarchala (Bagher Bazar) area of ​​Gazipur Sadar police station blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to demand withdrawal of the case filed against the workers and the arrears of salary. From 9:30 am on Wednesday, they blocked the road in front of Bagher Bazar Mandal Apparel Factory on the highway.
The previous day on November 12, around 3,000 workers of Beximco Industrial Park blocked the main road of the park demanding unpaid wages. Although some workers moved out, the blockade lasted for a long time. This causes long traffic jams on the highway. However, they later withdrew the blockade.
About 2,000 workers of Taragach Apparels in Tongir blocked the road demanding unpaid wages. The authorities assured them that the salary would be paid by November 14. Later, the workers lifted the blockade with the intervention of law and order forces.
About 2,000 workers of AGI Apparels in Savar also protested on the road outside the factory demanding their salaries for the month of October.
In Mirpur, about 1500 workers of Rishal Group stayed in the factory premises without receiving their salaries for the month of October. Army and police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Besides, when Doreen Garment in Gazipur's BKSP area suddenly announced temporary closure under Section 13(1) of the Labor Act, around 500 workers gathered to demand the reopening of the factory.
Attempts to create and destabilize issues
According to garment owners, even during the previous government, there were always problems in a couple of factories out of about 4,000, but the workers did not block the highway. Now if there is a problem or a minor problem, one party takes the workers to the highway. The entrepreneurs of this sector claim that the highway blockades are happening as part of an attempt to make a big issue out of domestically solvable incidents. Several traders told the Bengali Tribune on the condition of anonymity that a party who got benefits during the previous government is systematically trying to destabilize the sector. As part of the plan, workers are being taken to the highway in case of trouble at one or two factories. Not only that, the factory workers who do not have problems are also joining them in the blockade.
Trade unions divided into many groups
A number of garment owners and labor leaders said that due to disunity between the organizations working for the interests of the workers in the garment sector, working in the interests of neighboring countries, the followers of the ideologies of different political parties and the labor leaders, the labor dissatisfaction is not stopping. A factory owner said there are at least 100 organizations under different names of workers in the garment sector. There is no accountability of this organization or the federation leaders. Another entrepreneur said that ordinary workers are brought down to the streets just to sustain their own politics.
Behind the labor unrest is the bank's liquidity crisis
Several garment owners are in trouble due to the ongoing crisis in the banking sector. Despite their desire, several factories are not able to pay workers due to liquidity crisis in banks. Not only that, there are also cases where LC cannot be opened due to shortage of cash. In this context, the owner of a factory in operation and production told the Bangla Tribune that the garment sector is paying the loss of withdrawing crores of rupees from the bank during the previous government's tenure. He claimed that if the bank had given support as before, then there would have been no worker dissatisfaction anywhere.
Lack of strong law enforcement
Although the new government has crossed three months, the control of the garment sector is still in the hands of the people of the previous government. They have chosen this sector to destroy the image of the current government through the labor movement. Although the government has taken various steps in this regard, it is not enforcing the law with a strong hand against the trouble makers. A factory owner told the Bangla Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the miscreants took advantage of the laxity of the law enforcement agencies. He said, it has not been possible to identify those causing chaos in the garment sector and enforce the law against them.
Lack of coordination in government offices
Generally, when any problem arises in the garment sector, there is no coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Labour, garment owners and workers, several factory owners said. Several business leaders said that during the previous government, any problem was solved quickly mainly due to the coordination of various departments of the government and owners and workers.
In this context, the president of BKMEA, the association of garment industry owners, Mohammad Hatem told Bangla Tribune that most of the workers in the garment sector are innocent. They are always immersed in work. A handful of workers created chaos. Some of them are criminals, some NGO people force these innocent workers to indulge in misdeeds. Besides, taking advantage of the laxity of law and order forces, a party of workers on behalf of political parties is destabilizing the garment sector.
He said that the terrorists consider laxity of the law and order forces – whether it is the army or the police, they will not shoot. Because of this they are not afraid of doing criminal work.
He gave an example saying that on Tuesday (November 12) the owner of a factory in Narayanganj could not pay the workers. Because of this, foreign terrorists attacked the factory with the workers and vandalized the factory. When the workers of some nearby factories chased the terrorists, they escaped.
BKMEA president said that some factory owners are in real danger. Many people are also in trouble because of the bank. Many workers do not want to understand this. It can be seen that the owner gives a check to the bank for the salary, but the workers are having trouble getting the salary as there is no cash in the bank. This situation has arisen due to the looting of a huge amount of money from the bank during the previous government.
In this context, former director of BGMEA Mohiuddin Rubel told Bangla Tribune that one or two factories may have problems in such a large industrial sector. Due to the non-cooperation of the bank, there may also be problems in getting the salary. But the workers do not want to be patient. The problem is in one or two factories, but it is by no means desirable to create anarchy or chaos by taking the workers of 30 factories to the streets. He mentioned that it is important to look into the fact that so many workers have come down because of one or two factories. If their main aim is to create instability in this sector then they should be brought under the law and ensure exemplary punishment. So that all common workers can be alert.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Brigadier General (retd.), the adviser in charge of the Ministry of Labor and Employment. M Sakhawat Hossain said that the ongoing labor unrest in different parts of the country will be solved logically. Calling upon the workers to attend their workplaces without blocking the roads and causing public distress, he said, 'Trust us. We feel your pain. You will definitely get your due.'
The adviser said these things in the meeting with the officials of the ministry in the meeting room of the Ministry of Labor and Employment. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, AHM Shafikuzzaman, and senior officials were present.
Urging the owners to pay the dues of the workers properly, the Labor Adviser said, 'The dues of the brothers and sisters of the workers must be paid. The owner's factory runs because of their tireless work. The country's economy is progressing. Minimum wages announced by the government should be implemented in all factories. There is no chance of interruption. Legal action will be taken if anyone fails to implement the wage board. If there is a problem with the owner, an administrator will be appointed. He said that whether there is incitement by outsiders in creating worker dissatisfaction, that will also be looked into.
Adviser Sakhawat directed the formation of committee on cluster basis to investigate the cause of labor dissatisfaction and solve it. He said, 'Gazipur, Narayanganj, Ashulia, Savar and other areas with factories should be formed on a cluster basis. The committee will monitor the owners all the time. They will also ensure that they are paying their salaries. The cause of worker dissatisfaction will be investigated and effective steps will be taken to solve the problem.
