At least 530 manufacturing units, including textile mills and readymade garment (RMG) factories, across the country have the risks of facing labour unrest over payment of wages and festival allowance ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, officials said.
The labour ministry sits today (Tuesday) with the members of the tripartite consultative committee (TCC) on the RMG sector to discuss issues including current labour situation, payment of monthly wages and Eid bonus, they added.
The TCC has included representatives from factory owners and workers, law enforcement agencies and other related ministries and agencies, they said.
Of the total, some 276 factories are the members of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), according to Industrial Police.
Some 63 are registered with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and 33 are affiliated with Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
Nineteen factories under Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and the rest 139 non-RMG factories listed with the IP might also face unrest over non-payment of wages and other allowances, according to the IP data.
The listed units are located in the six IP zones, Dhaka except for Dhaka metropolitan area, Gazipur, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Mymensingh and Khulna areas.
When asked, BGMEA senior vice president SM Mannan Kochi said 10 BGMEA teams are closely monitoring a total of 500 factories including 300 IP-identified factories.
Talking to the FE, Industriall Bangladesh Council senior vice president Salahuddin Shapon said a good number of factories that mostly do sub-contracting and small in size are yet to pay last month wages.
He also alleged that these factories are making delay in June wage payments so that workers can't demand partial or full wage payment for the month of July.
"We urge the government to let both the factory authorities and their respective workers decide about the Eid holidays as there was unrest over the holiday duration in May," he added.
He, however, said the issues would come up at the RMG TCC meeting today for discussion.
Director of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Fazlee Shamim Ehsan suggested imposing a curfew for at least 10 days during Eid to curb the spread of Covid-19, saying that all factories will remain closed at that time.
He, however, said the leather and its related sectors should be kept outside the purview of the curfew.
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