The country’s six industrial zones witnessed more than 100 incidents of labour unrests in June mainly over non-payment of wages, official data reveals. Besides, workers of some 1,004 factories are yet to get the wages for the month of May until Monday even at the end of June, according to Industrial Police (IP) data. Of the 1,004 units, 558 are non-RMG and 436 textiles and RMG factories. The rest 10 factories are registered with the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA). According to the IP, 134 out of 1,882 member factories of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) under its jurisdiction did not pay the wages for the month of May until Monday. Total 266 out of 1,101 units registered with the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and 36 out of 389 member factories of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) did not pay the wages for the month of May as of Monday. A total of 364 factories under BEPZA and 3,866 non-RMG factories are under the jurisdiction of the IP. IP sources said 73 per cent or 5,556 units out of the total 7,602 remained open on Monday. When asked, Mohammad Hatem, senior vice president of BKMEA, said a good number of factories halted their production as they don’t have work orders due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Besides, factories mostly of small categories are not getting required support from the banks,” he alleged, adding that they were in a critical condition. There are also some factories those received loans from the government announced stimulus package to pay workers in April while in May they did not get the fund from the banks amid various excuses, he added. On the other hand, BGMEA claimed that only 40 factories did not pay the wages for the month of May. Some 1,886 out of 1,926 member units of BGMEA already paid the wages for the month of May.
