All factories paid Eid bonuses: BGMEA

The country's apparel trade body yesterday said all garment factories paid festival allowance as well as the wages and overtime bills for July to their workers.

“To my knowledge, 100 percent factories have paid the festival allowance and monthly wage and overtime bills for July. Most factories have also paid the full or partial wages for August," Md Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told reporters at its headquarters in Dhaka.

He said 800 garment factories, including those identified vulnerable to labour unrest by different government agencies, were under BGMEA's surveillance.

The association took initiative to pay wages and allowances to 45,000 workers of 40 factories through negotiations with factory owners and labour leaders, he said.

Depending on the types of problems in the respective factories, the payment to the workers was made through borrowing from banks and sales of land and machinery, Rahman said.

Tough measures were taken to pay wages and allowances because the image of the entire sector is tarnished due to the failure of a handful of factories out of the BGMEA's 3,200 members, he said.   

“Many owners are now unable to run their factories for various reasons. An exit policy is required urgently so that they can leave the business,” Rahman said, seeking the prime minister's intervention in this regard.  

He said 90 percent factories announced Eid vacation as of yesterday, while the rest will be closed today.