Disturbance in the garment sector
The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Fulfil the commitments
It appears that unrest is again simmering in the RMG sector. And when we had thought that the month-long unrest in this sector that flared up in May had finally subsided, we were surprised to see several thousand garment workers resorting to siege of roads and damaging of public and private vehicles. The recurrence of violence in the garment sector is reprehensible, even more so when the grievances are expressed through violence that causes huge traffic snarl-up and untold sufferings to the commuters.
There have been such demonstrations in several other garment factories in the area on the same grounds.
We understand that the workers of these factories were dissatisfied at the apparent breach of commitments made by the owners at the negotiations between them and the workers following the workers’ unrest last May, to increase their pay.
If a commitment was made to the workers, it was for the owners to make sure that it was fulfilled. The whole question of salary and benefits has been pegged to the determination of basic salary for the RMG workers, on which there has not been an agreement as yet. The owners insist that the pay and allowances cannot be enhanced unless the minimum salary has been determined. That is an argument seemingly plausible but cannot hold for long, if there is no agreement on the minimum salary ad infinitum. But apart from the regular salary, reportedly, the protesting workers have not been paid for extra hours of work, and that they are having to work under very poor working conditions.
We feel that there is a need to finalise the salary structure of the RMG workers immediately, and the Wage Commission set up for this very purpose must complete its work without further delay. To this end all the parties concerned must sit with flexible minds to arrive at a solution that will meet the requirements of all.
We cannot afford the most important sector of our export industry to be plagued by violence and disruption every now and then. The atmosphere of seemingly never-ending volatility must give way to an amicable atmosphere that will be durable, and causes of all the complaints must be removed, once and for all.
