Ministries' call to maintain peace in RMG factories

---

FE Report The government Wednesday assured both apparel makers and labour leaders of taking necessary steps for announcement of the new wage structure for garment workers by November next. In two separate meetings with the apparel makers' leaders and workers' representatives, the ministries of home affairs and labour and employment urged all concerned to maintain a peaceful working atmosphere at all garment factories. Both the meetings held 'outsiders' responsible for the latest violence in the apparel sector. Home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir told the reporters after his meeting that law enforcing agencies had already being instructed to take tough action against the outsiders. "The outsiders are engaged in creating anarchy in the RMG sector and they are against the interest of the sector, workers and owners," he said. "Tough action will be taken against them," he added. He said the new wage structure would be announced by November. BGMEA former president Abdus Salam Murshedy said they sought adequate security as many of the factory owners failed to run their factories for the last couple of days. The minister assured them of security and they would told the owners to keep their factories open today (Thursday). The meeting at the home ministry was attended by Shipping Minister, leaders of BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMA and some labour leaders while the other meeting at the labour ministry was attended by representatives from about 70 labour organizations. State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian in the meeting assured the labour leaders of announcing the wage structure as early as possible, particularly by October next. "If the wage board submits its recommendations early, I hope it will be possible to announce the new wage structure at the end of October," she said. Both the meetings urged the owners to resume production at their factories today (Thursday) and the workers to join work. Ms Sufian requested the labour leaders to assist the workers in joining work. Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said labour leaders informed the meeting that they had identified some outsiders who engaged in a conspiracy against the RMG sector and his ministry would request the concerned authority to look into the matter. Workers were not responsible for the latest unrest, the labour leaders told the meeting blaming the BGMEA's proposal for a hike of only Tk 600 in the wage for the labour unrest. Some labour leaders, however, held shipping minister Shahjahan Khan responsible for the prevailing situation in the garment sector.