99pc RMG factories paid wages to workers: BGMEA

Ninety-nine per cent readymade garment (RMG) factories in Bangladesh have paid their workers salaries before the Eid-ul-Fitr, the BGMEA claims. “About 99 per cent of factories have paid their workers before Eid,” BGMEA President Atiqul Islam came up with the assertion amid demonstrations by a factory’s workers in the city before Eid-ul-Fitr and during the Eid day. “Ninety-five percent of them have cleared allowances as well.” He said the government and the BGMEA had taken joint steps to ensure the workers are paid before the Eid. Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of readymade garment products behind China. The sector is the mainstay of the country’s export earnings. However, it has been plagued by accidents and allegations of low-wages and poor working conditions. Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association chief Islam said they had monitored factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, Ashulia, Savar and Narayanganj. “We brought 15 factories under supervision where we suspected there might be issued over paying workers,” he said. Islam said 1,487 factories out of 1,489 factories they had visited paid their workers. Of them, 1,483 factories had paid Eid allowances while 315 factories gave partial salaries of July. About 150 workers of two factories, owned by the same person, were waiting to be paid, he added, according to bdnews24.com.