APPAREL factories at Ashulia resumed production on Monday as the labour unrest over wage increase apparently ended and the 85 units closed amidst unrest in the past week were reopened. However, as New Age reported on Tuesday, worker attendance in the factories was low. Although many workers being in their village homes since the December 21 announcement of the closure of the factories for an indefinite period is blamed for this, workers have said that many of their colleagues hesitated to rejoin work fearing arrest as the factory management and the police filed several cases against 1,500 named and unnamed workers on criminal charges such as vandalism and looting and under the rigorous Special Powers Act and Information and Communications Technology Act. Moreover, while at least 22 people have already been arrested in the cases, 1,600 workers have been sacked on charge of inciting protests. There are reasons to believe that both the government and apparel unit owners have opted for coercive measures in quelling worker protests, which may further complicate the problem. The apparel sector witnessed several cases of labour unrest since its inception and, in almost all the cases, the authorities resorted to high-handedness, particularly at the beginning of the problem, but had ultimately to sit with the workers to find out a solution. It is important to recall here that the labour unrest resulted from the factory owners’ predilections for denying workers their rights recognised by local and international laws and even for depriving the workers of regular wages and benefits. Besides, although the government of the day out of its bias against the poor, in general, and workers, in particular, sided with the owners in almost all cases, public sentiment at large was in favour of the workers’ legitimate demands. Overall, it would be wise for the government and the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association to immediately engage in a negotiation with the protesting workers over the demand for a wage increase. It is all the more important as there is nothing to differ with the workers who legitimately raised the wage hike demand for the law concerned enables them to demand a revision of the minimum wage as it was last set in the apparel sector as Tk 5,300 three years ago and, above all, the average living cost has seen a significant rise in the period. Good industrial relation is a key for ensuring smooth functioning of the sector that provides direct and indirect employment to several million people mostly poor women and accounts for over 80 per cent of the country’s annual export income. The less said about its much more potential to make the country’s fight against unemployment and for earning foreign currencies a success the better. But the way the government is trying to resolve the ongoing problem is bane for good industrial relation. Hence, it should immediately release the detained workers and settle the dispute through dialogue.
