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Members of the tripartite committee met for about four hours at the Casa del Trabajo on Thursday, but did not make a decision, especially on the bonds.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of State for Labor, Begum Mannujan Sufian, at the Labor Building in the capital. Union leaders Fazlul Haque, Montu Ghosh, Lee Talukder, China Rahman, Islam were also present. Although the meeting started at 11 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m., no unanimous decision was made about the worker bonus.
Confirming the matter, Jolly Talukder, general secretary of the Union Center for Garment Workers, told Prothom Alo: “We have demanded the payment of the Eid bonus equal to the basic salary for May 20, as always.” At the same time, I have demanded to pay 15 days of salary this May. The owner refused to comply with our demands. One of the owners said that, in the current situation, he could not give a bonus of more than 25 to 50 percent of the basic salary.
A BGMEA leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tripartite meeting had decided to give workers three days of Eid leave and the first week of June this month to prevent crown infection. There will be a meeting early next week on the bond.
However, some union leaders boycotted today’s tripartite meeting. Among them, Amirul Haque Amin said: “If the main theme of the meeting is to reduce fair worker quotas, what is the benefit of going there?” Another labor leader, Salauddin Swapan, said: “Employers will give bonuses to workers according to the law.” There is nothing to discuss about it.
Meanwhile, even after May 14, most factories were unable to pay their wages due to government incentives. On the other hand, workers from 20 to 25 factories in Ashulia, Gazipur and Chittagong have organized a stir today demanding 100 percent of wages.
According to the industrial police, 2,190 of 6,602 factories in Gazipur, Ashulia-Savar, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Mymensingh and Khulna have paid wages last month. Of these, 581 out of 1,072 BGMEA members have paid wages. BKMEA members have paid 290 workers in 1,101 member factories. Additionally, BTMA members have paid 128 wages from 369 factories. However, 54 BGMEA member factories and 42 BKMEA have not paid wages until last March.
In confirming the matter, Police Superintendent Mohammad Amzad Hossain said that workers at Ashlar’s Medlar Apparel, Sitco Fashion, Magpie Knit Composite, Anjuman Garments, Aditya Fashion, Rye and Rye Apparel had organized a protest demanding 100 percent of the wages. On top of that, there have been incidents of labor unrest at 15 garment factories in Gazipur and three in Chittagong that demand 100% wages.
The April 26 government-owner-worker tripartite meeting initially decided that factory workers would get 80 percent of total wages in April. And they will get full wages for the few days that were business days. The next day, the Ministry of Labor ended with a meeting with various labor organizations. In a meeting between the government and the owners on May 4 with the leaders of the Bangladesh Industrial Council (IBC), it was decided to pay 75 percent of April wages. However, homeowners will pay an additional 5 percent in May. At the end of the meeting, IBC leaders said in a press release that a consensus decision had not been reached. However, BGMEA later reached an agreement with the leaders of the IBC and the Garment Workers Trade Union Center.
When asked about the reason for the delay in payment of wages, BKMEA Vice President Mohammad Hatem said the delay was due to the complexity of the banks’ procedures. He feared that many factories would not be able to pay their wages before Eid.
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