Clear salary, Eid bonus by July 25
The government yesterday asked the employers of 42 different industrial, production, manufacturing, trade and services sectors to clear the payment of salaries and Eid festival bonus by July 25.
Begum Monnujan Sufian, state minister for labour and employment, yesterday made the call as the Eid-ul-Azha is scheduled to be held July 31 or August 1.
Sufian said this after a meeting with the leaders of Sramik Karmachari Oikyo Parishad (SKOP), the highest body of labour unions, at Srama Bhaban in Dhaka.
The workers mostly go to their village homes to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha. But many factory owners either do not want to pay the salary and bonus or delay in clearing the payments.
The union leaders asked the owners to pay salary and bonuses well ahead of Eid so that they can go home safely.
Both Sufian and union leaders also asked the factory owners not to terminate the workers from their jobs and to pay the arrears. Currently, the country's workforce is employed under 42 different sectors, for which the government-appointed minimum wage board fixes wages and allowances after a legal periodical review.
The SKOP leaders also urged the factory owners to reopen the shut units so that the workers can get back their jobs.
On reviewing the decision on jute mills' closure, Sufian said the government has no plan to review the decision, said Md Akterul Islam, information and public relations officer of the labour and employment ministry, after the meeting.
The deadline of July 25 has been set for all formal and informal sectors like hotels, textile, transport, garment and so on, said Fazlul Hoque Montu, SKOP president.
"We demanded the salary for July also as Eid is going to be held at the end of this month," he told The Daily Star over the phone after the meeting.
SKOP also demanded no termination of workers from their jobs and no shut down of factories.
During the last Eid-ul-Fitr, most of the employers paid the workers 50 per cent of their basic salary as Eid bonus before the festival and another 50 per cent after the festival.
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