RMG workers wait for salaries, bonus

With Eid only a few days away, at least 500 garment factories are yet to pay the workers their salaries and bonuses.
Many workers would not be able to go home for the holidays even if the factories paid them the salaries and bonuses today or tomorrow. Some factories are only paying half the salary for the month of July while many are only paying bonuses, not salaries.

The garment makers' platform, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), is saying that almost all factories would pay the salaries and bonus by today or tomorrow but the union leaders are concerned.
The garment makers at a meeting with State Minister for Labour and Employment Ministry Mujibul Haque Chunnu and workers' leaders on July 15 had said the salaries and bonuses would be paid by July 26, which is today.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim said, "I hope the 500 garment factories pay the salaries and bonus by tomorrow [today] or if it is not possible, they pay by July 27. But every garment factory owner will have to pay the workers before Eid."
He said there were four or five garment factories which were in serious trouble and it was not certain whether they would be able to pay the workers.
"We held meetings with those factory owners over the last two days and they too had agreed to pay the workers before Eid," Azim said.
The workers had been demanding full salary for July and bonuses but the owners were not agreeing. "As a result, many factory owners were paying salaries for 15 days' work along with bonuses," Azim said.
On the payment of workers of Tuba Group, the company that owns Tazreen Fashions, which was burnt down in November 2012, Azim said after a series of meetings with the management of the group, they too agreed to pay the workers before Eid.
At least 1,600 workers of Tuba Group have been demonstrating in front of the BGMEA over the last few days demanding arrears of three months and Eid bonuses.
Tuba Group owner Delwar Hossain is in jail in a case filed in connection with the Tazreen Fashions disaster.
Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, said they were not sure whether the workers would get paid. "We do not know whether the BGMEA or Tuba Group would pay as they did not tell us anything. We are continuing with our demonstrations."
She said workers of many factories would not be able to go home for the holidays as they do not have the time to get the pay and then go home. “If Eid is on the 28th and they get paid on the 27th, when will the workers leave for home?”
She also complained that many factory owners were firing workers who were involved in trade unions.
Sirajul Islam Rony, member of the minimum wage board for the garment workers, said, "Every day we have to settle salary and bonus related issues at factories as owners are not paying the workers even though Eid is almost here. We are concerned whether all owners would pay up by July 27."
Nearly 20 percent out of 4,000 active garment factories are yet to pay the workers, he told The Daily Star over the phone.
The owners are giving excuses like delayed shipments, non-availability of bank loans and fund crunches. "In some cases we cannot even find factory owners to place our demands," Rony said.
Many factory owners are paying only the bonuses, not the salary, he said.
Almost every year, the 4 million workers of the country's $24.5 billion garment industry demonstrate demanding salaries and bonuses before Eid.