40% RMG units fail to pay Eid Bonus on time

Bangladesh: Around 40 per cent ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh have reportedly failed to pay Eid bonus to their workers even after five days of the Government-set deadline of August 24.  The estimate was based on a joint monitoring by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Industrial Police of around 3,500 RMG factories in Dhaka, Savar, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chittagong areas.

The Government had set the deadline of August 24 for payment of Eid bonus so as to avert workers’ unrest, which often takes place ahead of the holy festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha, due to alleged non-payment of bonus and wages.

Senior Industrial Police officials maintained that they have already placed a list of 300 garment factories to the Labour and Employment Ministry, which they feel, could fail to pay the workers’ bonus before the Eid-ul-Adha, to be celebrated on September 2.

Meanwhile, owners of two readymade garment factories in Gazipur have allegedly gone into hiding without paying a bonus to the workers. BGMEA, the apex trade body of the country, has taken the issue seriously and is trying to pay the workers either by selling the machinery of these two troubled factories or by arranging loans from banks, a BGMEA office bearer underlined.