Workers will be paid before Eid holiday, tripartite meeting decides

They will get wages for work until May

A tripartite meeting between the government, workers and owners has decided to pay the workers’ salary and bonus before the Eid-ul-Azha holiday.

State Minister for Labour and Employment Nazrul Islam Chowdhury briefed the media after the meeting on Wednesday.

He said, “It became a custom for workers to go on strike every time before Eid. But from now on, such a situation cannot be created.

"Under the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the workers and the owners sat together and accepted the demands of the workers. Everything that was needed has been solved.”

"The demands made by the workers are not actually demands. They deserve it. The owners supported their demands and said they would implement them,” he said.

The state minister said they also discussed rations for the workers and decided to sit later and determine the process of distribution.

“The prime minister said that ration will be given. So the workers will get it.”

This year's Eid-ul-Azha will fall in the third week of June. The labour leaders demanded in the meeting that the wages for May and half of June be paid before the festival.

Sirajul Islam Roni, president of Bangladesh National Garments Employees League, told reporters after the meeting that the demand for the wage for half of June was ruled unrealistic in the meeting and so the workers will get the salary of May.

Even after increasing wages, the workers are not doing well because of inflation, Rony said.

“Those who work as helpers or smaller jobs have a salary of Tk 12,000. A family cannot survive with it. There is not much opportunity to do overtime. So we have demanded to increase the salary further."

He said they demanded Trading Corporation of Bangladesh cards for daily necessities at subsidised rates.

"The prime minister herself announced ration for the workers, but it will actually take a long time. We think it is not possible to launch ration now. So everyone should be given TCB cards,” he said.

Before every Eid, there is a lot of pressure on the highways when the garment factories take a holiday together. Heavy traffic jams and risky journeys on trucks or pick-ups because of a lack of public transport mark the holiday travel for the workers.

Nazrul said they decided in the meeting to sit again to put an end to the sufferings of the workers during travel.

“Eid is a long holiday... around seven to 10 days off. We are taking measures so that the workers can spend this holiday with ease and comfort.

Representatives of the Bangladesh Employers Federation, the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association attended the meeting. Also in attendance were representatives from the National Labour League, the Bangladesh National Garments Workers' League, the National Labour Union, and the National Labour Federation.