Rights activists at a citizens’ rally here on Sunday demanded steps to ensure the workplace safety and due wages for the RMG workers to remove what they said ‘slavery’ from the country’s vital sector.
They said the workers as well the country’s economy will be hit hard if the garment factory owners do not give attention to their workplace safety and fair wages because of their profit motif.
Nagorik Sanghati, a non-profitable organisation, arranged the citizens’ rally in front of the National Museum on Sunday morning.
Chaired by Sanghati general secretary Sharifuzzaman Sharif, the rally was addressed, among others, by general secretary of Trade Union Centre Dr Wazedul Islam Khan, former general secretary of Dhaka University Teachers Association (Duta) Dr Akhteruzzaman, Eng Enamul Haque, filmmaker Mashiuddin Shaker, environmentalist Dr Nuruddin and social worker Aminur Rasul.
The speakers said the garment industry is an important sector in the country because the highest foreign currency comes through it. The hard-working labourers help the garment owners make more and more money, but their lives are in danger in their own workplaces.
Turning to the recent Savar tragedy, they said there is a building construction act in the country, but no government body seems functional to monitor building construction works, which causes frequent incidents of building collapse.
The rights activists put forward a set of demands at the rally, including compensation for the victims of Savar building collapse, filing murder cases against owners and inspectors responsible for the accidents in garment factories, enforcing the building code in setting up new structures and removing the BGMEA Building from Hatirjheel project.
Source: UNBConnect
