RMG owners threaten no pay, bonus

The owners have threatened not to pay readymade garment workers salary and bonuses before the Eid if they continue disruptive agitation for minimum monthly wage.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) sounded the warning at a joint press conference on Tuesday.

"The key export sector of the country is facing severe unrest for the last few days. Stability is needed for the sake of owners and workers," acting BGMEA President SA Mannan Kochi said.

He added that the owners were not short of intentions to raise the monthly wage, but if the unrest lingered on, they would not be able to pay the workers before the Eid-ul-Azha.
BKMEA President Selim Osman said that they were concerned over the unrest.

"If this continues we will not be able to pay salary, bonus before the Eid," he said.

The government has moved to raise RMG workers' monthly wage amid international concerns over working conditions in the wake of fire in Tazreen Fashions and the Rana Plaza collapse.

In 2010, RMG workers' minimum wages were hiked to Tk 3000 from Tk 1500.

Workers demand a Tk 8,100 minimum wage whereas the BGMEA's proposal is to increase it by Tk 600 to Tk3,600.

The Wage Board is yet to settle the minimum pay following series of meetings with workers and owners.

RMG workers took to the streets for the last four days, leading to closure of more than 150 factories.

On Monday, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan sat twice with representatives of owners' and labour organisations.

Khan, who has a background in labour politics, urged for compromise and calm and asked workers to go back to factories – a call that was greeted on Tuesday with more protests and rampage in Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur and Narayanganj.

Owners at Tuesday's press conference complained of international conspiracies against the RMG industry, saying that the international media including the BBC is publishing negative reports.

Citing a BBC story published Wednesday showing hidden-camera footages of 19-hour working shifts at a Ha-Meem Group-owned factory in the capital, the BGMEA-BKMEA leaders said that it was a part of that conspiracy.