Govt steps in to resolve Tuba closure dispute

The government has initiated a move to resolve the dispute over payment of compensation to workers of the five Tuba Group units which have been declared closed, officials have said.

The move has come as labour leaders and workers of the closed Tuba Group factories and the owner are locked in a row over payment of lawful compensation.

The Group management declared the factories closed on Monday last for an indefinite period.

The ministry of labour and employment (MoLE) has already directed its Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) to look into the matter.

"We have already asked the DIFE to take necessary steps," Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar told the FE on Wednesday.

When contacted, DIFE Inspector General Syed Ahmed said: "We'll scrutinise the legal aspect of closure of the Tuba Group factories. And we are going to consult legal experts to find out whether the factories have been closed by following the existing rules or not."

If the factories were not closed according to the law of the land, the authority had to pay rightful compensations to the workers, he said. The DIFE then would take action accordingly, he added.

On Tuesday Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the Tuba Group owner had to shut his units according to the law and compensate the workers consequently.

On August 18, the authority of the Tuba Group in a notice announced closure of its five units for an indefinite period according to the article 13 (1) of the labour law.

According to the article, workers are not eligible for any payment during the closure of any factory and they would get back their jobs with resumption of production in that unit, sources have said.

"The workers did not get timely payment for the month of May due to imprisonment of the Managing Director and put pressure for payment of wages by suspending production since June 10 last," the notice read.

"In the absence of the MD, the management failed to collect money and pay the workers," it noted. In such a situation some workers in association with some outsiders demonstrated at the factory illegally, pilfered raw materials and parts of machines by creating anarchy and causing losses," it added.

"Such activities of the workers amount to illegal demonstration," it said announcing closure of the units for an indefinite period with effect from June 11.

However, terming the closure of Tuba Group units according to the article 13(1) as 'illegal' labour leaders claimed that the workers' demonstration for payment of wages, overtime bills and festival allowance was right.

The owner, backed by the BGMEA, took the step with an ill motive to deprive the workers of their lawful dues like arrears, overtime bills, festival allowances and service benefits, they alleged.

However, the workers and owners have taken two opposite stances over the compensation following closure of the factories.

Workers and labour leaders claimed that compensation and service benefits are their lawful rights while owners are in the opinion that they do not deserve any further payment or compensation or service benefit following closure of the factories as per article 13 (1).

"The Tuba MD did not take the right way of closing his units as per article 13 (1)," Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh National Garment Workers Employees League (BNGWEL), said. The demonstration was not illegal, he added.

The Tuba owner has many reasons not to continue production. Absence of proper management, imprisonment of the MD and his interim bail, non-compliant units especially the factories housed in shared or rented buildings, the shortage of work orders and subcontracting might be creating hurdles to reopening of the units, industry insiders said.

"He could seek a safe exit and compensate the workers accordingly, but he didn't do that as he has the ill motive to deprive the workers," Mujibur Rahman Bhuiyan, vice chairman of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BIILS), alleged terming the closure illegal and illogical.

The owner took the illegal way by not paying the workers timely, he said. "So, how did the workers' demonstration for wages become illegal?" he said.

The Tuba Group workers observed hunger strike since July 28 last demanding payment of wage arrears, overtime and festival allowances. They got their wages paid for the months of May, June and July on August 6, 7 and 10 respectively after 11 days of hunger strike.

Earlier, while talking to the FE, Md Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), opined that the Tuba Group units should not reopen until their relocation, as they are located in shared buildings. The units also should not reopen, if there was any shortage of work orders or no order, to avert any labour unrest over payment in future.

Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the government should immediately scrutinise the Tuba Group issue to see whether the Article 13(1) was applicable or not in that case and take measures considering the overall scenario.