Labour leaders demand salary, bonus before Eid

Labour leaders yesterday urged garment factory owners to clear worker salaries and festival bonuses by the 25th of Ramadan to avert any untoward incident.
They also urged the authorities to fully implement minimum wages and cancel night-shift duty during Ramadan.
The leaders voiced their demands at a press briefing organised by a group of union leaders at Shaheed Asad Auditorium in the capital.
“Many factory owners do not clear worker salaries before Eid. Even some owners close their factories ahead of the festival just to avoid the payment,” said Tapon Saha, general secretary of the group, known as Textile Garments Workers Federation.
He urged the government to take necessary steps to compel the factory owners to pay salaries before Eid.
He also requested the owners not to sack any worker before Eid because such a step would create unrest in the sector.
“International retailers should increase the prices of Bangladeshi apparel if they really want to ensure workplace safety and protect labour rights,” Saha said in a statement.
Saha urged the US government to reinstate trade benefits for Bangladeshi products immediately.
Garment workers have been ignored, although the sector accounts for about 80 percent of the country's exports, according to the statement.
The leaders will hold a garment workers' conference in Dhaka on July 16 to materialise their demands.