The launching of industrial police force
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina formally launched last Sunday the much-talked-about industrial police with a view to maintaining peace and order in the country's main industrial zones. The special police force that would be deployed in the industrial belts of Dhaka, Ashulia, Gazipur and Chittagong will initially have manpower of around 1500 personnel. It would be enlarged gradually. The business circles consider the creation of this force as an important move since very often the authorities find it hard to deploy members of general law enforcing agencies to maintain order in the event of troubles in the industrial belts. Besides, such deployment of general-duty police personnel creates dislocation in the maintenance of law and order in other areas, particularly when the population-police ratio remains at a low level.
The readymade garments (RMG) owners had consistently been making demands for the creation of an industrial police force in the backdrop of recurrent workers' unrest that have taken a heavy economic toll on them in recent years. Angry workers, allegedly incited by outsiders, blocked main highways and resorted to loot, arson and all sorts of vandalism on different pleas, including pay-hike and suspected murder of fellow workers by factory management. Dhaka, Ashulia, Gazipur and Chittagong, which have concentration of export-oriented apparel manufacturing units, are proven flashpoints. So, the decision to raise the industrial police force has been welcomed widely by the businesses and RMG owners in particular.
The stances taken by the RMG owners and trade unions on the industrial police are quite opposite. The owners have obviously been happy while trade union leaders have voiced concern alleging that the special police force would be used to suppress the workers. However, the views expressed by the trade union leaders are not tenable since the special force will be duty-bound to protect life and property of citizens in the event of troubles. There should be no reason for them to take sides with owners or workers.
Yet, there are some issues that should not be overlooked by the main stakeholders - the government, the industry owners and the workers. Actually, what the industrial police force will be tasked to handle are events, not the factors that trigger events. Such factors include dispute between workers and their management over wage-hike, non-payment of wages, work environment, retrenchment etc. So, it would be wise on everybody's part to make all-out efforts to address the causes of disputes within the factory premises through negotiations and stop the troubles from travelling to nearby streets and highways. An intelligence wing will be required to be created within the industrial police to help detect brewing troubles and alert all concerned to take corrective measures.
The appeal made by the Prime Minister at the launching of the industrial police to industry owners and workers, if followed, might help attain that objective. She wanted the owners to address the genuine grievances of the workers and, at the same time, urged the workers to maintain healthy relations with their employers and protect mills and factories that fetch them their livelihood. It would not be out of place to underline here the importance of having in place a permanent mechanism to facilitate dialogue between industry owners and workers, particularly in the apparel sector.
The readymade garments (RMG) owners had consistently been making demands for the creation of an industrial police force in the backdrop of recurrent workers' unrest that have taken a heavy economic toll on them in recent years. Angry workers, allegedly incited by outsiders, blocked main highways and resorted to loot, arson and all sorts of vandalism on different pleas, including pay-hike and suspected murder of fellow workers by factory management. Dhaka, Ashulia, Gazipur and Chittagong, which have concentration of export-oriented apparel manufacturing units, are proven flashpoints. So, the decision to raise the industrial police force has been welcomed widely by the businesses and RMG owners in particular.
The stances taken by the RMG owners and trade unions on the industrial police are quite opposite. The owners have obviously been happy while trade union leaders have voiced concern alleging that the special police force would be used to suppress the workers. However, the views expressed by the trade union leaders are not tenable since the special force will be duty-bound to protect life and property of citizens in the event of troubles. There should be no reason for them to take sides with owners or workers.
Yet, there are some issues that should not be overlooked by the main stakeholders - the government, the industry owners and the workers. Actually, what the industrial police force will be tasked to handle are events, not the factors that trigger events. Such factors include dispute between workers and their management over wage-hike, non-payment of wages, work environment, retrenchment etc. So, it would be wise on everybody's part to make all-out efforts to address the causes of disputes within the factory premises through negotiations and stop the troubles from travelling to nearby streets and highways. An intelligence wing will be required to be created within the industrial police to help detect brewing troubles and alert all concerned to take corrective measures.
The appeal made by the Prime Minister at the launching of the industrial police to industry owners and workers, if followed, might help attain that objective. She wanted the owners to address the genuine grievances of the workers and, at the same time, urged the workers to maintain healthy relations with their employers and protect mills and factories that fetch them their livelihood. It would not be out of place to underline here the importance of having in place a permanent mechanism to facilitate dialogue between industry owners and workers, particularly in the apparel sector.