DeskReport
All outstanding salaries and allowances of garment workers must be paid by May 28 before the upcoming Eid al-Adha, otherwise legal action will be taken against the garment owners concerned, and they may even have to go to jail.
Brigadier General (Retd) Dr. M Sakhawat Hossain, Advisor to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, has given such a stern warning. He said that arrest warrants have already been issued against five garment owners. They will not be able to go outside the country, let alone outside Dhaka.
The advisor made these remarks after a meeting with the heads of various organizations on the protection and security of waterway passengers on the occasion of the upcoming Eid at the conference room of the Ministry of Shipping at the Secretariat on Wednesday morning.
The labor advisor said that for the past few days, there had been news of various garment workers’ organizations surrounding the residence of the chief advisor in Jamuna and labor buildings in Kakrail, demanding arrears of salaries and allowances. Taking the matter seriously, he held a meeting with garment owners and leaders of labor organizations at the Secretariat until 7 pm on Tuesday. In this meeting, the garment owners said that they would pay the workers’ dues even if they had to sell their houses and that by the 28th.
The advisor said, “This assurance from the garment owners has given us hope. We believe that the garment owners will pay the salaries and allowances of their respective garment workers by the 28th. There is no chance of it happening otherwise.”
He further said, “The garment owners will either pay the workers or go to jail. Those who cannot pay the workers do not need to be garment owners. Some may establish garments to do fashion. This cannot be allowed to happen in the future.”
The advisor said that arrest warrants have been issued against the owners of five garment companies, including TNZ Garments and Mahmud Garments.
Officials of various departments and organizations, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, were present at the event. At the event, the advisor mentioned various decisions of the government regarding the safety of passengers on waterways on the occasion of the upcoming Eid.
The advisor said that no bulkhead will be able to ply on the river before and after Eid this time. In addition, four armed Ansars will be deployed on passenger launches. He requested the concerned officials of the Meteorological Department to provide timely weather forecasts.
