Payment Dispute
Guidelines for sweater factory workers in offing
The government is going to formulate a set of guidelines for the sweater factory workers to resolve the prevailing disputes over payment in piece-rate basis.
At the first meeting of a labour ministry sub-committee to identify the wage-related problems of sweater factory workers on Tuesday, the representatives of factory owners and workers agreed to formulate the guidelines over the payment of piece-rate.
Md Faizur Rahman, joint secretary (labour), told New Age that the labour leaders and factory owners have discussed the prevailing situation of sweater factory workers and agreed at one point that a set of comprehensive guidelines is needed to bring discipline in the sector.
Faizur, also the head of the sub-committee, said that they have formed a working committee headed by the chief inspector of factories and establishment to visit factories and to talk with workers to dig out the real scenario of sweater factory workers.
After completing physical visit, the working committee will submit its recommendation to the sub-committee, he said.
The sub-committee would finalise the draft of the guidelines in the light of the recommendation of working committee, Faizur added.
Sirajul Islam Rony, president of National Garment Workers League and also a member of sub-committee, said that they raised their demands for increasing basic pay, overtime allowance and fixing wage as per grade wise.
‘We have agreed to formulate a set of guidelines for the sweater factory workers and demanded that the issues which remained unsolved for long would have to be addressed through the guidelines,’ he said.
Mohammed Hatem, vice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that the guidelines would be formulated over fixing piece rate but there is no scope to include the demands of workers for increasing basic pay and overtime allowance in the guidelines.
‘When they will work under piece rate they will not be entitled to grade wise basic pay or overtime benefits. We have no objection to pay the sweater factory workers as per grade wise basic and overtime benefits, but they will have to work under the wage board,’ he said.
Hatem said that no sweater factory workers are willing to work under wage board as under the piece rate the workers receive higher than the structure of minimum wage board.
Labour leaders have been making allegations for long that the sweater factory workers are deprived of legal service benefits like overtime allowances and festival bonuses.
Around 16 lakh workers are engaged in sweater factories under the piece rate basis payment system.
They also demanded hike in piece-rate payment, food and travel allowances for sweater factory workers in accordance with the newly-announced minimum wage for the woven garment factory workers.
In the first week of January, the labour ministry formed a sub-committee to look into the disputes of the sweater factory workers.
-With New Age input
