Editorial
Death of RMG worker
Settled issues need not be reopened
The death of a worker in police firing at a garment unit in Gazipur on Sunday raises anew the question of the malaise the RMG sector has long been suffering from. One would have thought that with a change in conditions lately coming in, such tragedy as the one in Gazipur would become a thing of the past. Indeed, the tripartite agreement among the government, garment owners and workers made it clear that serious efforts were on to bring about security and stability for all in the industry. Only a few days ago, some of the leading figures of the BGMEA held out the warning that those units which failed to fulfill the agreement by the end of June would have no opportunity to continue in business. That statement was taken as a sign of positive developments in the industry, those that would cater to the welfare of its workers.We do not believe that what has happened at Fortuna Apparels in Gazipur takes things back to square one. But we do think that with troubleshooting mechanisms such as the tripartite deal now in place, such a sad incident ought not to have occurred. The workers in Gazipur were demonstrating to uphold their demand for a payment of their arrears for April. Besides, it appears they had another grievance, which was the reported move by the management of Fortuna Apparels to reduce overtime hours from 80 to 30 hours. The management of course has denied taking any such step. While demanding their dues, the workers too resorted to violent action, damaging property in the process. What is of critical importance here, though, is the propensity on the part of some people, in this case the police, to resort to extreme measures of mob control. On Sunday, how much of persuasion did the police and the garment unit management go for? Incidents such as the one in question may give people the impression that apparently settled issues are being reopened once again. It is for the management of the garment industry to convince the country that they are serious about their business. That includes providing workers with the wages and benefits they need minimally to make both ends meet.
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