Workers of nine jute state-owned mills in Khulna are facing uncertainty over whether they will be paid their outstanding wages before Eid-ul-Fitr as Eid vacations starts from July 17. They said they were frustrated as they got no assurance from mill officials concerning the overdue salaries. The upcoming Eid will bring no joy for families of more than a thousand workers who have not yet been paid by factories they work at. Member Secretary of CBA-Non CBA Oikya Parishad SM Zakir Hossain said the textiles and jute minister assured early in July that all overdue wages would be paid before Eid but the workers are still awaiting payments. “The workers will be forced to stage a sit-in from Khalishpur to Rajghat industrial area if no decision is made by today,” he said yesterday. Former CBA president of Crescent Jute Mill Md Murad Hossain said workers of the mill were waiting for wages that were four weeks overdue. “The workers are in complete despair as they see no hope of getting the money.” Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) sources said a total of 42,000 workers are employed at the nine state-owned jute mills in Khulna and Jessore regions. Wages of workers in several of the mills became overdue in the wake of a severe cash crunch, dearth of raw jute and closure of looms. Liaison Officer of BJMC’s Khulna office Md Rafiqul Islam said factory owners had not yet reached a decision on when workers would be paid their outstanding salaries. “A decision might come before Eid holidays,” he said. HM Shahadat Hossain, general secretary of Dada Match Workers Union, said he was facing extreme financial hardships and had no prospects for enjoying the upcoming festival. “I have appealed to the prime minister for providing each of the workers’ families with Tk1,000 and 20 kilogrammes of rice ahead of Eid. The misery the workers are facing knows no bound,” he said. Dada Match Factory, a facility where matchstick is produced, was shut in August 2010, and then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told a rally the following year that the factory would be reopened soon. “But nothing has yet been done. Some 74 workers of the factory have already died without treatment because they could not afford medical bills,” said Shahadat. Some 300 workers lost their jobs when Hardboard Mill was closed in February last year. The convener of a committee formed after the factory’s closure to protect workers’ rights, Molla Farid Ahmed, said the workers’ families are in extreme financial distress. “For them, Eid will be nothing but another day filled with worries over when they will receive all their overdue wages,” he said.
