BGMEA, the apex body of garment business owners, has announced that it will pay workers of five factories of the Tuba Group two months’ wages on Wednesday.
After a meeting of the association’s top functionaries on Sunday afternoon, BGMEA acting president AM Mannan Kochi made the announcement at a press conference.
“Starting from 10am on Wednesday two months’ salary will be given to the workers at the BGMEA building. The rest will be paid by the owner within Aug 10,” he said.
He also appealed to the workers to withdraw their hunger strike, assuring them that their overtime dues and allowances would also be paid within that time.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu had attended the meeting at the BGMEA Bhaban and were also present at the press briefing.
Around 1,600 workers of Tuba’s five factories have been on a hunger strike inside one of its units on Hossain Market at Dhaka’s Badda since July 28, demanding payment of the wages, overtime dues and allowances for the months of May, June and July.
BGMEA made several promises since then to ensure that the workers’ dues were met, but nothing materialised. The workers seem to have a pile of allegations against the apex body of the garment business.
Saikat Mallick, one of volunteers treating the fasting workers, said 122 workers had fallen ill until Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Tuba Group Workers Movement Committee at a press conference had threatened to lay siege to the BGMEA headquarters on Tuesday and hold demonstrations in all industrial zones in the country on Monday.
Committee Coordinator Moshrefa Mishu said, “The workers have been continuing the movement for the past seven days. It will be a mistake to consider this movement a weakness. It will get tougher if the workers’ demands are not met.”
Their five demands are: immediate payment of unpaid wages, overtime, and Eid bonuses, factories should be kept open so that the 1,500 workers can retain their livelihood, compensation for workers who have fallen ill, the scraping of Tuba Group Managing Director Delwar Hossain’s bail and the award of the death penalty, and compensation for the victims of Tazreen Fashions fire.
Readymade garment factory Tazreen Fashions, which was gutted in a blaze killing 112 workers in 2012, belonged to the Tuba Group.
The group is owned by Delwar Hossain, who is currently in jail. The High Court granted him bail on Thursday, but he is yet to be released.
Source: bdnews24
