TU leaders fear reappointment of closed jute mill workers a 'false promise'

The government's promise that workers of the state jute mills being closed will get their jobs back once productions resume under public-private partnership (PPP) has failed to allay fears among the leaders of worker unions, reports bdnews24.com

They point out that many of the new owners of privatised mills had earlier recruited workers of their own choice while some others left Bangladesh by selling the factories and land altogether.

The lives of tens of thousands of workers and their families will be at risk if they are not re-employed amid the coronavirus crisis, the leaders fear.

Some have cast doubt over the payment of dues. The government has decided to pay most of the workers half the dues in cash and the rest in savings certificates.

Besides the 25,000 workers being sent on forced retirement, the 26 state-owned jute mills have around 26,000 workers who are paid on a daily basis.

"All of us will be jobless if the mills are privatised. Because the people who will lease the factories will appoint workers of their own choice," said Zillur Rahman, the president of Rajshahi Jute Mills CBA.

Mahbubul Alam, a worker leader from Chattogram's Hafiz Jute Mills who is acting as president of Bangladesh Jute Mill Workers League, said: "Many owners had left the country by selling the machinery and land. They did not pay the workers either."

He threatened protest programmes, such as fast until death, if the workers are not paid properly.

The worker fronts of different political groups do not see any rationale behind the closure of the jute mills amid the pandemic.

The jute mills could have been saved had the government modernised the machinery, said Rajekuzzaman Ratan, the general secretary of Samajtantrik Sramik Front.

The move to put the jute mills under PPP is nothing but a ploy to embezzle state properties, alleged Kamrul Ahsan, the president of the Jatiya Sramik Federation.

Anwar Hossain, the president of Bangladesh Sramik Dal, said the young workers will be in a more uncertain state than their elderly colleagues due to the closure of the mills.