BGMEA asks Tuba workers to get paid at its office

BGMEA that represents the interests of the garment factory owners says Tuba workers have to come to their office to receive unpaid dues.

After Tuba Group owner Delwar Hossain's internment in the Tazreen fire case, workers in the five factories of the group have not been paid their salaries and allowances for three months now.

As many as 1600 workers at Tuba's Badda factory are on a hunger strike since the day before the Eid to push for payment of unpaid dues.

BGMEA says it has now arranged to pay all Tuba workers two months' salaries immediately.

But the workers want full payment for three months and allowances -- and they want the BGMEA to pay them in their factories, not in the BGMEA office.

On Tuesday, various Leftist labour organisations agitating for the cause of the Tuba workers gheraoed the BGMEA office .

After this siege, BGMEA Vice-President SM Mannan Kochi insisted that Leftist groups rather than Tuba workers were responsible for the gherao.

Later, the BGMEA announced in a press note that "if any Tuba worker failed to turn up at the BGMEA office to collect their May and June salaries at the scheduled time, the BGMEA will not be responsible for their payments".

The press note said the payments will start at the BGMEA office from 9am on Wednesday.

Kochi told journalists on Monday that BGMEA will incur TK 20.35 million to pay off the May and June salaries of the 1600 workers at Tuba's five factories.

"We have to borrow such a huge amount to tackle the crisis," he said.

Earlier, BGMEA office-bearers had contended that the situation created by non-payment of salaries at Tuba Group will be solved once Delwar Hossain was released on bail.

Hossain has secured bail in the November, 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire case on July 24 and walked out of prison on Monday.

Altogether 112 Tuba employees, mostly workers, had died in that fire.

Labour unions allege that the non-payment of worker dues was a 'deliberate ploy' to pressurise the government into releasing Delwar Hossain from prison.