90% RMG factories paid festival bonus so far: BGMEA
About 82.19 per cent of garment factories paid partial salaries to their workers for April as of yesterday dispelling worries that many factories might fail to clear payments before Eid-ul-Fitr, according to data from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
Ninety per cent of factories have already paid the festival bonus and 98.84 per cent have cleared the salary for March, said BGMEA President Faruque Hassan.
"Initially, it was thought that many factories will face challenges in paying their workers on time as factories have had fewer work orders from international clothing retailers and brands because of the severe fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war."
"The salary payments situation is good."
He admitted that a few factories were in trouble but the problem has been resolved in discussions with banks, which have approved loans in a short time to help pay workers.
Hassan thinks all factories may complete the payments of salaries and bonuses by today or tomorrow as many factories will continue their operations even on Friday in order to ship goods to their buyers on time.
Some factories have paid salaries for 10 to 15 days of April, he said.
According to data from the Industrial Police, 1,026 out of 1,631 BGMEA member factories, or 62.91 per cent of the total, paid the festival bonus as of yesterday.
Likewise, 553 out of 700 factories that are members of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) gave bonuses to their workers, accounting for 79 per cent of the total.
Some 240 out of 358 member mills and factories of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) paid bonuses to workers.
Of the 345 factories located inside the industrial estates under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, 330 cleared bonuses, representing 95.65 per cent of the total units.
Forty-four jute mills paid bonuses to workers, which is 53 per cent of the 83 such mills in the country, industrial police data showed.
Another 3,973 factories representing other sectors made bonus payments to workers. This constituted 61.13 per cent of the 6,499 factories belonging to this group of industries.
About 95.58 per cent of factories of the BGMEA, 95.85 per cent members of the BKMEA, and 96.65 per cent members of the BTMA paid the salary for March as of yesterday.
Some 99.71 per cent of BEPZA factories, 100 per cent jute mills and 94.09 per cent factories in other sectors cleared payments to workers for March.
State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian in a meeting on April 5, urged the garment factory owners to clear workers' salaries for March and festival bonuses before the beginning of the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
As per rules, factory owners will also have to pay the salary of the first seven working days of April before the holiday begins, the labour ministry said in a statement earlier.
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