Several hundred workers of a garment factory, Chunji Knit Ltd, on Monday staged demonstration in front Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association office in the capital, demanding four months’ dues and other benefits.
They alleged that the authorities shut down the factory without any notice on November 30 without paying wages for four months.
The workers besieged the buildings till night.
The BGMEA official sat with the workers and owners representatives to resolve the issue in the evening.
In the meeting, owner representative offered to pay the wages for November and December in three phases – mid and end of this month and declined to pay for January and February.
Workers representatives rejected the offer and demanded the dues be cleared right away.
Ruhul Amin, general secretary of Bangladesh Garment Worker Trade Union Centre, told New Age that they refused the proposals of factory owners as the wages were lawful rights of the workers.
‘Owners will have to pay the workers accordingly, otherwise agitation programme will be continued,’ he said.
Up to filing the report on 9:00pm, the meeting between the representatives of workers and owners was going on at BGMEA while workers staged sit-in in front of the building.
Earlier the workers of the factory besieged the BGMEA on December 5 and then the owner and Association promised to pay the wages for the months of September and October on December 10 and 22 respectively and the wages for months November and December on January 10 and 31 respectively but owners breached the promise.
Jalal Hossain, a worker of the factory, said more than 2,000 workers worked at the factory and all of them were passing their days through severe hardship.
Despite assurance, the owner did not pay the workers, he said.
Source: New Age