The garment industry seems to be heading for another massive outburst of workers as many factory owners are either delaying
the implementation of the new pay structure or depriving workers by grading them unfairly to lessen their pay.
Workers and their leaders said that there have been protests in at least one-fifth of the factories where November wages were paid according to the new pay structure, and they fear more protests as most the factories are still to pay wages.
In five days since the seventh of this month, when payment of wages usually starts, workers in many factories protested angrily and forced closures of some factories.
Delwar Hossain, an employee of Mohakhali’s Rahman Garments, told this correspondent that though he has more than 12 years’ experience as an operator, he saw that he had been included in Grade V when he went to receive his wages according to the new pay structure. ‘I expected to be included in Grade III because of my experience.’
Nahidul Islam Nayan, general secretary of the Bangladesh Sommilito Garment Sramik Federation, said that in the past five days workers from at least 20 factories in Tejgaon, Mohakhali, Mirpur and Gazipur complained to them of deprivation.
Najma Akhtar, who had represented workers in the previous wage review commission, said her organization is trying to help workers to lodge complaints in the labour courts against undue degradation.
‘It has not been clarified in the labour laws and Minimum Wage Declaration what grade a worker should be given after getting a certain amount of experience or attaining a certain level of efficiency. There should have been a clear guideline in this respect,’ she said.
At Narayanganj, which has numerous knitwear factories, workers in at least half a dozen factories protested against being graded unfairly.
Tania, a stitching operator of a factory in the BSCIC Industry Estate in Narayanganj, alleged that operators with even six to ten years of experience found themselves included in Grade IV or V which are for workers who have just been promoted from the grade of helper or junior operator.
‘Even with average performance and three years’ experience, a junior operator deserves seniority,’ said Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, general secretary of the Bangladesh Textile and Garment Workers Federation.
Ismail told New Age that not more than 25 per cent of the factories in Narayanganj had paid wages by Saturday. ‘If more factories continue to deprive their workers there may be another massive outburst.’
Commerce minister Faruk Khan on Thursday claimed that around 85 per cent of the factory owners had paid November wages according to new pay structure.
Labour leaders Nahid and Ismail, however, said that employees and employers in some factories are locked in disputes over workers’ grades, and negotiations are going on.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s president, Abdus Salam Murshedy, claimed that disputes erupted in only a few factories out of more than 5,000 across the country.
‘There are some misunderstandings that are being settled through discussion between workers and owners, and the BGMEA is playing the role of mediator in some cases,’ he said.
Factory owners are implementing a new pay structure which has almost doubled their wage expenditure, said Murshedy. ‘The industry needs the support of the workers and government in this critical period.’
A tripartite wage review commission in July declared a revised wage structure for the garment factory workers, but with the consent of the government its implementation was deferred by three months.
Under the new wage structure, the wage of Grade 7 (entry level) apparel workers increased to Tk 3,000, up by 80 per cent from the earlier sum of Tk 1,662. Workers’ representatives had earlier demanded Tk 6,200 monthly wage for entry-level workers.
A Grade 6 worker will get Tk 3,330, up from Tk 1,851 per month; Grade 5 will get Tk 3,553 instead of Tk 2,046; Grade 4 will get Tk 3,861 instead of Tk 2,250; Grade 3 will get Tk 4,218, up from Tk 2,449; Grade 2 will be paid Tk 7,200, nearly double the former wage of Tk 3,840 and Grade 1 will earn Tk 9,300, up from Tk 5,140.
Garment industry watchers say that increased wages will not be much of a burden for factory owners as their earnings have already increased.
They said that the sharp increase of wages in China and shortage or workers there has boosted the earnings of the garment factory owners in Bangladesh.
Now Bangladesh’s apparel export industry is facing a sellers’ market, so much so that the factory owners are now getting the prices they asked for.
In July-November of the current fiscal year, RMG export earnings increased by 36 per cent to reach $6.4 billion, which is 77 per cent of the country’s entire export proceeds.
