Pay salary, Eid bonus by May 10

Garment workers will have to be paid salaries and festival allowances by May 10 so that they can enjoy the Eid-ul-Fitr festival with near and dear ones, said Monnujan Sufian, state minister for labour and employment, yesterday. 

The minister shared the decision at a news briefing after a tripartite meeting of union leaders, government high-ups and factory owners at Srama Bhaban in Dhaka. 

Sufian also instructed factory owners to stagger holidays zone-wise so that there was no crisis of transportation and workers can travel to their village homes maintaining social distancing.

The decision comes amid health experts warning that any major relaxation of ongoing restrictions on movement may aggravate the transmission of the coronavirus, especially at this time when India's health system has broken down due to the spread of a new variant of the virus.

At the briefing, the state minister also said if all the workers were allowed to go on leave for holidays in one go, it would be difficult to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Citing previous instances, she said it was observed that when the over 5 million industrial workers were allowed to go on holiday all in one go, it became difficult for them to avail transportation.

Many workers experienced severe difficulties going to their village homes, she said.

There are some industry-dense zones such as Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Narsingdi.

Some 60 per cent of the country's garment factories are located in Dhaka, Gazipur, Savar, Ashulia, Maona and Tongi zones. The remaining 40 per cent are in Narayanganj, Narsingdi and Chattogram.

Sirajul Islam Rony, a union leader and former member of the minimum wage board for garment workers, said like previous years, some factories might face difficulties in paying workers in the final days ahead of the Eid vacation.

"We do not want to see such a situation anymore in the garment sector," Rony told The Daily Star over the phone.

"So we have been monitoring different factories and informing the owners about timely payment to avoid any kind of labour unrest ahead of Eid," said Rony, who was also present at the tripartite meeting.

He, however, said all three parties in the meeting agreed on the zone-wise holiday plan.

Almost every year before Eid, some garment factories, especially those which are not members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), face difficulties in ensuring payments.

As a result, workers bring out rallies and stage demonstrations demanding timely payments.

More than 1,000 micro and small garment factories, most not properly compliant and not members of the BGMEA and BKMEA, face such kinds of trouble.

So far, some 250 garment factories have been identified by the BGMEA as being prone to facing difficulties in ensuring the payments.

"We have already asked them to get ready to complete making timely payments to avoid any kind of workers' unrest ahead of the Eid festival," said BGMEA Vice-President SM Mannan Kochi.

"We have been monitoring the factories so that the workers are paid on time. The BGMEA members will have to pay the workers timely as they are working even in this time of Covid-19," he said.

Kochi also said the factory owners would start allowing holidays in different zones from May 11 and 12.

Although the workers will be allowed to go on holidays from May 11, they would have to return to their workplaces according to the government's holiday notice, he said.

The Eid is scheduled to be held either on May 13 or 14 as it depends on the sighting of the new moon.

Kochi also said they have demanded that the government arrange vaccines for the workers.

The government can enter into arrangements with clinics in different industrial zones to provide vaccines to workers at their convenience.

This week the BGMEA has already demanded that the government provide a stimulus package enabling payment of workers' salaries and allowances for April, May and June.

Every month garment workers are paid more than Tk 3,000 crore in salaries, said the BGMEA.

Last year, the government provided Tk 10,500 crore under a stimulus package for export-oriented sectors, especially to those of the garment sector, for paying such salaries and allowances.

The factory owners were allowed to defer the repayment of the loans under the package in view of the fallouts of the Covid-19.

The local garment exporters have faced either work order cancellations or suspensions worth $3.18 billion last year because of the Covid-19.

However, 90 per cent of such work orders were reinstated by the international retailers and brands after intense negotiation with the government, factory owners and other agencies. Uncertainty still persists over timely payment.