Mitigating labour unrest

At a time the country has been striving hard to navigate the political and administrative vacuum and maze arising out of the seismic change in those vital areas, stability in the industrial sector was a sine qua non. Unfortunately, the interim government did not even have time to settle down before various aggrieved groups had started placing all kinds of demands for immediate solution. Violent and belligerent labour unrests rocked the garments industry before and by the time the student movement reached its peak in the first week of August, sacked workers of several apparel factories in the Savar-Gazipur belt with help from outsiders were itching for unleashing anarchy. At some point, the army had to be called in to quell the industrial rebellion. But the trade in jhut, waste or discarded materials from garments factories, suffered the worst as the most godowns located in Ashulia were set on fire.

The ulterior motive behind the torching of jhut warehouses was to capture the business by elbowing out its traders who had their allegiance to the deposed government. That anarchy spilled over to other industries including the pharmaceutical and garments. Actually anarchy breeds anarchy and the worst example of this is the attack on industries of the Gazi Group. Its tyre factory was reduced to ashes and tragically many who went upstairs there perished in the fire started by a different group on the first floor. Garment factory owners and other industrials fear that a similar spectre can unfold if security at industrial complexes is not tightened enough. Naturally, their deep concern has prompted business leaders to approach the chief adviser (CA) of the interim government for a redress. The CA has assured them of his government's help in maintaining law and order at factory and industrial sites in the interest of unhindered production.

In fact, workers of the apparel factories have chosen a wrong time for pressing home their demands. Right at the moment, apparel business is reeling from the fallouts of the disruption caused during the student movement marked by violence and closure of factories and industries. The fresh labour unrest in the industrial belt began on Monday and continued to vitiate the working environment on Tuesday, leading to closure of more than hundred garment factories for a full and a half day respectively. The unrest spilled over into the third day, Wednesday, forcing closure of some more factories.

If the problem has to be solved permanently, the deployment of the industrial police, the police and the army will hardly be enough. Workers have their genuine demands for higher wages and other facilities. There are more irregularities in terms of recruitment, permanent and temporary service, leave, overtime, physical and sexual abuse etc; than regular service rules. Reportedly, employment can be terminated any time. The issue of the right to labour union is yet to be settled and this is despite the insistence of the foreign buyers. So rather than employing force, the need is to designate a commission with the task of arriving at a negotiated settlement. The commission will formulate the service rules and the freedom for unionism within a framework that guarantees interests of both the factory owners and their workers in equal measure. If workers can work in an exploitation-free environment, they are likely to be more competitive which is key for the country's RMG to staying in business. The same applies to other manufacturing units.