Garment unrest: Trading blames makes people suffer

Neither the labour organisations nor the apparel factory owners nor the government agencies take responsibility for recurring labour unrests that often cause people immense suffering.

In the latest incident Thursday, hundreds of workers of ‍Shamsher Rezia Fashions took to the street in Dhaka's Gulshan-1 area in the morning rush hours. The hour-long protest blocking the road paralysed the major traffic arteries in Dhaka that took hours to normalise.

Labour sources said agitations flared up when the workers were denied salary payment on Thursday – it was promised by the owner earlier. The stand-off escalated, as labour representatives said, the incident could have been averted in the first place if the factory owner was sincere.

Apparel workers make headlines often for staging agitations protesting numerous issues such as payment delay, worker termination, persecution, and obstructing workers in joining trade unions. Such protests are more common in Mirpur, Malibagh, Rampura, and Uttara in Dhaka, and Gazipur, Ashulia, Savar, Narayanganj, and parts of Chattogram that have more readymade garment factories than other residential neighbourhoods.

Last week, around 2,000 workers of Gazipur-based Stylecraft Limited besieged the headquarters of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in Dhaka's Uttara for two days. The factory was facing labour issues for at least two years over worker payments.   

A tripartite meeting among the owner, labourers, and the government reached an understanding two months ago. Allegations ran rife that the workers besieged the BGMEA office as the owner breached his promise.

After another tripartite meeting initiated by the labour ministry recently, the owner committed that the arrears to workers would be cleared within the next 30 working days.  

As per the BGMEA count, as many as 42 apparel factories that are the association members experienced 42 labour unrest incidents in the first six months of this year. The association claimed most of the issues have been settled.     

But the labour leaders said around 100 factories with or without BGMEA membership faced worker agitations during the time. 

Kamrul Hasan, a labour leader and general secretary of the IndustryAll Bangladesh Council, told The Business Standard that he had a list of 30 factories where labour unrest incidents ensued due to worker termination, payment denial, and obstruction to joining trade unions.   

Describing eight separate incidents, he pointed the finger at the owners, substandard factory management, and negligence of government agencies.

Economist Dr Nazneen Ahmed said payment and leave issues – that are addressed in the labour law – are responsible for most of the garment unrest incidents.

She also pointed the finger at the government monitoring agencies for lax monitoring.      

"Besides, the process of filing complaints by workers is complicated. It should be digitised so that a labourer can make engagements with the stakeholders promptly," noted Dr Nazneen.   

Owners smell a rat

Apparel-makers categorically denied the allegations raised by workers and labour leaders. 

SM Mannan Kochi, senior vice president of the BGMEA, said, "In many cases, labour leaders incite the workers to take to the streets. Besides, workers often take to the streets owing to the lack of labour law understanding and a lack of proper training and awareness."

Mohammad Hatem, senior vice president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), believes workers sometimes have logical grounds for agitation.

"But in most cases, there would be so-called labour leaders, who are foreign agents are tasked to spoil the sector, by inciting the workers," he commented.  

Sector people said there are 3,000 factories in Bangladesh with memberships in the BGMEA and BKMEA. But around 4,000 factories, including non-member factories, export apparel items to foreign markets.

Ministry vents anger on workers 

Begum Monnuzan Sufian, state minister for the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said she always calls the owners and workers to the negotiation table whenever an issue surfaces.

She categorically denied the workers' allegation that the government bodies failed to protect their interests.  

"Why do they [workers] not file complaints officially with the Department of Labour or Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments before the ministry intervention," she questioned. 

Labour unrests decreased a lot: Police

According to industrial police, there are currently 8,226 factories in the country including garment and non-garment sectors. About 97% of the factories are now operational.

The count does not include factories under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Shafiqul Islam, director general of Industrial Police, said they always try to keep the workers and their issues within the factories so that people do not have to suffer.

"We talk to the owners and workers if labourers take to the street, and successfully settle most of the unrests through negotiations. We talk to the ministry if our efforts fail to calm the agitation," he noted.      

"However, labour unrests have decreased a lot compared to the past," the police official commented.