Govt urges Accord to compensate workers during production halt

The government has formally requested the Accord to share the workers' payment with the factory owners during closure of any garment factory after inspection, sources said.
Appreciating the Accord's contribution to improve workplace safety in  Bangladesh's garment industry, Labour Ministry sent Monday a letter to the Accord, requesting the platform of more than 150 global apparel companies, brands, retailers and trade unions, to pay wages for at least three months.
"It is very crucial for the Accord to consider the issues arising out of factory closures as part of remediation process and share with the factory owners the cost to pay wages to the workers during the closure period," the letter said explaining the present scenario of the post inspection period
"For the greater interest of the workers, completion of the inspection as per schedule and payment of at least three months wages during closure of factories may be one idea," it said.
"It is noted that there is lack of effective support to remediation including payment of wages to the workers who are facing unemployment as a result of temporary closure of factories after inspection," the letter said.
In some cases, the workers and employers are not even getting 24-hour notice to close factories and there are no preparations to handle the workers' aspirations and genuine concern, it said adding this is causing tension among workers, leading to negative public opinion about the inspection process.
Some factory owners whose factories are getting closed within twelve hours after inspections may be facing genuine difficulties in arranging wages immediately and the closing of factories is compounding the problems as workers are getting impatient and wanted payment, it noted.
Considering the significance of the issues, members of the BGMEA have also been requested to pay wages in line with the provisions of the Accord, which prescribes the obligation of the suppliers to maintain employment relationship during the remediation process as a result of the inspection.
However, the BGMEA has repeatedly pointed out that the Accord's provisions are unilateral as suppliers have not signed the Accord.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on several occasions requested the Accord to come forward to contributing the workers' payment during suspension of production.
The Alliance, another initiative of North American buyers, brands and global apparel companies, has been contributing one month of wages while another one month is paid by the factory owners considering the remedial work would be done within two months.
It will actively consider paying two months of wages if the owner is ready to pay another two months when the remedial work would take place.
Shahidullah Azim, vice president of BGMEA said many of the owners don't have the ability to pay three months or more of wages to the workers at a time.
"The Accord signatories, brands, and retailers must contribute to the workers payment as done by the Alliance for the greater interest of the workers," he said.
Otherwise, the situation might create unwanted labour unrest, he feared.
Since the beginning of the inspection programmes by Accord and Alliance, production was halted in 20 factories located in Dhaka and Chittagong, where 14,000 workers were employed, according to BGMEA.