A good number of readymade garment factories did not pay wages to their workers within the promised deadline that expired on Friday. Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactures and Exporters Association at a meeting with the state minister for labour and employment M Mujibul Haque on July 2 committed that the factory authorities would pay workers’ wages within July 10 and festival allowances by July 14 before Eid-ul-Fitr. Workers’ rights groups on Friday alleged that at least 20 per cent of RMG factory owners across the country did not pay wages to their workers in keeping with their commitment. The BGMEA, however, said that they did not receive any complain from the workers regarding wage issue. The president of National Garment Workers Federation, Amirul Haque Amin, said several factory owners were yet to pay wages and festival allowances. He said they were collecting names of the factories that have failed to keep their commitment and it would be about 20 per cent of total factories. The general secretary of the Garment Workers’ Trade Union Centre KM Ruhul Amin said that about 25 per cent of factories were yet to pay wages. ‘Most of the big companies have already paid wages and festival allowances to the workers but there are problems in some medium and small factories as they failed to pay workers in line with the commitments’, he said. Ruhul alleged that uncertainty over the wages surfaced in some factories as the authorities were yet to clear outstanding wages for the month of May. Demanding dues for the workers of Swan Garments, he said the factory authorities shut the factory on April 10 without any announcement, pushing the workers into a dire state. The workers of Swan Garments would start sit in programme from July 12 as despite assurance the BGMEA did not take any initiative to pay the dues to the workers, Ruhul said. Bangladesh Garment Workers Employees League president Sirajul Islam Roni claimed that more than 30 per cent of garment factories did not pay wages to the workers in time according to their commitment. He said that most of the factory owners in Gazipur announced fresh date to pay their workers from July 12 to July 16. ‘In Gazipur more than 50 per cent of factories failed to pay workers as per the government set timeframe,’ Sirajul said. Sources from Industrial police said that most of the factories in Ashulia and Narayangong paid wages to the workers while majority in Gazipur failed to pay by July 10. According to the sources, a total of 215 RMG factories in Chittagong paid wages up to July 9. About 1,000 RMG factories are in operation in Chittagong zone The BGMEA vice president Shahidullah Azim, however, claimed that most of the factory owners paid wages in time barring a very few. ‘There is no unrest in the sector over wage issue this year as few number of factories, those are yet to paid wages, extended time for payment consulting with the workers,’ he said.
