BGMEA for ‘no work, no pay’ as workers unrest continues
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has expressed its support to member factories which want to enforce the “no work, no pay” policy under the Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, amid the ongoing workers’ unrest.
According to the act, the owner can partially or fully close a branch or division of an establishment due to an “illegal” strike and the workers participating in the strike will not receive any wages.
“The manufacturers waited for a long time but didn’t implement section 13(1),” BGMEA Senior Vice President Abdulla Hil Rakib told The Business Standard today (11 September).
“Earlier, six to seven big factories enforced the act to prevent workers’ unrest.”
He went on, “However, on Monday night, factory owners agreed to comply with the workers’ demand providing an additional attendance bounce of Tk225 and Tk10 as tiffin fee.
“Despite that, there are no signs of stopping unrest as some local political groups influenced them.
“We wanted to resolve it through negotiation. Now it seems that the time has come to give Section 13(1), so the manufacturers implemented this by informing the BGMEA to pave a way to sit for dialogue between the workers and owners,” he added.
Rakib said they (BGMEA) think if the manufacturers use this clause, they might get a result very soon.
“We tried our best to solve the problem by leaving the factory open, but that didn’t work in the end.”
Today, a total 54 garment factories in the Savar and Ashulia industrial areas have been indefinitely closed, with 60 others declaring a general holiday.
A discussion between BGMEA and local political leaders was also been held.
Several discussions on cards
BGMEA Senior Vice President said they want to organise a combined meeting of four ministries within the next week.
“We expect the solution will be soon.
Moreover, they are trying to involve more ministries and government in the discussions as the RMG sector is a national asset.
Regarding the buyers, he said that they are worried and they also want a meeting.
“We have a plan to sit with the buyers in the next week, most probably Sunday or Monday,” he added.
