Move to prevent any untoward incident in industry before Eid
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
FE Report
The government sits with the country's readymade garments manufacturers and workers' leaders today (Wednesday) to prevent any untoward incident occurring in the apparel industry before Eid festival, a senior commerce ministry official said on Tuesday.
He said the government move came amid reports of the intelligence agencies that feared there was possibility of workers' unrest in the apparel industry over payment of wages and bonus ahead of Eid.
Without giving details about the intelligence reports, the official told the FE "We have convened all stake holders to attend the meeting to discuss the present situation so that no unrest takes place before the festival."
Apart from sector insiders including business leaders and workers' representatives, he said around a dozen secretaries and chiefs of a number government agencies will participate in the meeting with commerce adviser Hossian Zillur Rahman in the chair.
The meeting, which will be also attended by the adviser of the ministry of labour and employment Anwarul Iqbal, will discuss ways and means to avoid unrest in the apparel sector.
At least 151 garment factories were vandalised between January and August this year as thousands of workers protested over low wages and rumoured deaths of their fellow workers, according to the association of the garment manufactures.
Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had earlier told the FE that "Our of 151 factories vandalised until August, 109 have been ransacked following rumours over workers' death."
The commerce ministry official said most crucial issue relating to the implementation of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 12, 2006 will be discussed in the meeting as one of the major agendas.
Under the deal, basic minimum wage of an apprentice worker has been set at Tk 1662.
Apart from this, the official said a number of issues relating to formation of a unified format for inspection of apparel units and approval system of structural design of RMG industries will be put across the table for discussion in the meeting.
"Our purpose is to help the industry owners achieve a sustainable growth that has contributed immensely to the country's export earning in the previous years."
Garments occupied more than 76 per cent of the country's $14.11 billion export trade in the last fiscal year.
The official said the government, which has estimated earning from exports of garments around $12.50 billion in the current fiscal year, will not show any compromise to protect interest of workers as well as owners to ensure sustainable growth of the sector.
The government sits with the country's readymade garments manufacturers and workers' leaders today (Wednesday) to prevent any untoward incident occurring in the apparel industry before Eid festival, a senior commerce ministry official said on Tuesday.
He said the government move came amid reports of the intelligence agencies that feared there was possibility of workers' unrest in the apparel industry over payment of wages and bonus ahead of Eid.
Without giving details about the intelligence reports, the official told the FE "We have convened all stake holders to attend the meeting to discuss the present situation so that no unrest takes place before the festival."
Apart from sector insiders including business leaders and workers' representatives, he said around a dozen secretaries and chiefs of a number government agencies will participate in the meeting with commerce adviser Hossian Zillur Rahman in the chair.
The meeting, which will be also attended by the adviser of the ministry of labour and employment Anwarul Iqbal, will discuss ways and means to avoid unrest in the apparel sector.
At least 151 garment factories were vandalised between January and August this year as thousands of workers protested over low wages and rumoured deaths of their fellow workers, according to the association of the garment manufactures.
Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had earlier told the FE that "Our of 151 factories vandalised until August, 109 have been ransacked following rumours over workers' death."
The commerce ministry official said most crucial issue relating to the implementation of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 12, 2006 will be discussed in the meeting as one of the major agendas.
Under the deal, basic minimum wage of an apprentice worker has been set at Tk 1662.
Apart from this, the official said a number of issues relating to formation of a unified format for inspection of apparel units and approval system of structural design of RMG industries will be put across the table for discussion in the meeting.
"Our purpose is to help the industry owners achieve a sustainable growth that has contributed immensely to the country's export earning in the previous years."
Garments occupied more than 76 per cent of the country's $14.11 billion export trade in the last fiscal year.
The official said the government, which has estimated earning from exports of garments around $12.50 billion in the current fiscal year, will not show any compromise to protect interest of workers as well as owners to ensure sustainable growth of the sector.