Don’t terminate workers
The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE) issued a circular on Sunday, urging garment factory owners to not terminate any of their workers in order to avoid labour unrest in the country.
During a tripartite meeting between the government, factory owners and trade union leaders on April 25, it was decided that workers would not be laid off despite the current situation, the DIFE circular read.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation, the government had ordered the closure of all business operations since March 26 in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly pathogen.
The nationwide lockdown came to an end on May 30 and many factories were allowed to resume operations.
However, in those two months, about 17,579 workers from 67 garment factories across Bangladesh lost their jobs because of the economic fallout brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to reports from 23 DIFE deputy inspector generals.
Following these terminations, workers took to the streets in protest, going so far as to form blockades on several roads and highways.
The trade union leaders also alleged that many factory owners only paid 60 per cent of their workers' full salaries and bonuses with the promise that at least they would not lose their jobs.
Nonetheless, there were many terminations still taking place, they said.
Various union leaders, organisations and workers have been lodging complaints with the DIFE as workers are being terminated while factories are closing down due to a lack of work orders, said Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF).
However, workers should not have been terminated as the government gave a stimulus package worth Tk 5,000 crore and owners also paid 60 percent salary, Amin said.
A list of garment factory workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic should be prepared so that those people can receive some financial aid, Amin said.
The government should also form a central coordination committee featuring buyers, factory owners, union leaders, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, to monitor worker termination and misappropriation of funds meant for the industry, the NGWF president said.
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