1,500 factories yet to clear festival payments

Thousands of workers across Bangladesh's key industrial zones are still facing uncertainties as 1,500 factories have not paid festival allowances despite Eid-ul-Azha holiday beginning today (Tuesday).
About 14.65 per cent (1,500) of the factories under the jurisdiction of the Industrial Police (IP) across eight industrial zones did not clear the allowances until Monday despite the government's directive to do so by May 21.
Besides, 162 factories, including 92 textile and garment units, have not paid April wages before the beginning of the holiday, according to IP data.

According to the Industrial Police, 10,238 factories are currently operating under its jurisdiction in eight industrial zones -- Ashulia, Gazipur, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Mymensingh, Khulna, Cumilla and Sylhet -- excluding the Dhaka metropolitan area.
Of them, some 1,500 factories -- including 409 textile and readymade garment (RMG)  units and 1,091 non-RMG ones -- did not pay festival allowances until Monday. The highest number (771) of non-paying factories is in Narayanganj, followed by 339 in Gazipur, 141 in Ashulia, and 116 in Chattogram.
More than 12 per cent, or 220 factories out of the 1,790 listed with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), have not paid festival allowances.
Among the 708 factories registered with the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), 126 units (17.80 per cent) have failed to pay the allowances.
In addition, 57 member factories of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) out of the 382 did not clear the allowances.
The IP data also shows six factories under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) did not pay the allowances.
Earlier, at a meeting on May 14, Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury instructed all factory owners to pay the festival allowances by May 21 and ensure timely wage payments in line with labour laws to avert any untoward situation.
When asked, Additional Inspector General of Industrial Police Gazi Jasim said among thousands of industrial units, the percentage of factories with non-payment issues was nominal.
Only 31.28 per cent or 3,202 factories announced Eid holidays in phases by Monday, he noted.
He said though there were a few nonpayment incidents among workers, they were monitoring the situation.
"We are in talks with factories, BGMEA, BKMEA, and BTMA over nonpayment so that they clear bonuses and wages before the holiday starts," he also said.
He hoped the non-paying factories would clear the payments today (Tuesday) as they would remain open.
A good number of factories had made advance payments for the month of May, added the official.
Munni_fe@yahoo.com