BGMEA to implement new salary structure

Staff Reporter :
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan on Tuesday said that the member factories will implement the new wage structure for their workers from December this year as per the recommendation of the government-formed wage board.

“The new wage structure will be announced in November and will be implemented by December.

Any violence will cause the closure of factories according to the law,” the BGMEA president said while speaking at a press conference at its office in the city to brief the situation over wage hike protests at different industrial zones in the country.

The announcement comes as workers have been demonstrating in the garment industrial belts of Ashulia and Gazipur for the last several days, demanding a minimum wage of Tk 23,000.

Hassan said, “Factories are getting closed almost every day because of the ongoing unrest. If the situation prevails for some more days, factory owners will be compelled to shut down their production units.”

“You can close your factories immediately in line with the labour law provision of 13 (1) if workers don’t want to work and go out from factories and outsiders vandalised.

To protect the lives of workers and properties, you can follow the 13 (1) provision,” he added.

He further said the factory owners will have to follow th0e “no work, no pay” rule of the labour law in case any worker engages in protests or is absent from work.

Expressing deep sorrow over the recent casualty of workers in the garment industry, the BGMEA president said, “So far, two garment workers have died during the unrest.”

He also alleged that many entrepreneurs are forced to close their factories as the workers of some garment factories have been leaving the workplace and vandalizing the factory due to the instigation of outsiders for the last few days.

Terming the situation unexpected, Faruque said, “The bigger concern is that due to the incitement of outsiders, several leather factories, chemical godowns, fabric godowns, shops and other institutions have been damaged.”

Urging the workers to be cool down, he said, “The industry has reached its current level only with your contribution.

Do not do anything that tarnishes the image of the industry or destroys the confidence of buyers. If buyers turn away from the industry, the country will suffer and you will be out of work, which is not desirable.”

Presenting RMG export situation, he said that the overall apparel imports by US and EU countries have declined alarmingly in the first eight months (January-August) of the current calendar year.

In terms of value, global clothing imports of the US decreased by 22.27 per cent, while its imports from Bangladesh reduced by about 21.77 per cent during the eight months period.

In terms of quantity, the global import of the US has also decreased by 26.80 per cent, while 29.10 per cent from Bangladesh.

It means, in terms of quantity, the import of the US from Bangladesh has declined by about one-third during the mentioned period.

At the same time, global imports of Europe decreased by 9.61 per cent and from Bangladesh decreased by 13.71 per cent.

Also, in terms of quantity, imports from around the world decreased by 14.64 per cent and from Bangladesh decreased by 15.07 per cent, the BGMEA president said.