By IANS,
Dhaka : A trade union will for the first time engage in collective bargaining with employers in Bangladesh’s garments and knitwear sector, the country’s principal foreign exchange earner, to avoid recurrence of industrial violence.
A collective decision came Sunday, a day after two persons were killed and over 200 injured in a worker-police clash at Ershadnagar in Tongi, the national capital’s industrial suburb.
Industrial violence is a recurring phenomenon in Bangladesh where wages are low and working conditions poor.
A meeting attended by ministers, garment factory owners, workers and representatives of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) took the decision, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency reported.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan told reporters that a 12-member committee will be constituted to study how effectively trade unionism could be introduced in the garment industry as law permits it.
Khan said problems faced by owners and workers of the garment industry could be resolved amicably if the trade unionism could be introduced.
The government got all sides together for talks as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered action against a garment factory owner who decalred lockout at his unit without paying wages to workers.
Hasina directed the home secretary to take action against the employer of the Nippon Garments Factory at Ershadnagar at Tongi for abruptly laying off workers, said national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
The employer had acted without making payments of arrears and salaries for three months, leading to the violent incident, officials said.
BGMEA defended the Nippon Garment owner, saying Saturday’s industrial violence was a “sabotage by local agents of foreign elements”.
It alleged initial news reports about four people, including two policemen, being killed, as indicator of “sabotage” meant to push the country out of the global garment market, New Age newspaper said Sunday.
“We are sensing an act of sabotage behind the destruction and lawlessness,” said BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy.
Lawmakers Tipu Munshi, a former president of the association, and Israfil Ahmed made similar observations.
Ahmed urged the government to remain cautious against “local agents of foreign elements” who might have been working to create unrest in Bangladesh’s garment industry.
Due to global market recession, many foreign elements are in a frantic move to grab Bangladesh’s share in the global apparel market, he said without elaborating.
Industrial violence due to non-payment of wages and festival bonus and poor working conditions is a recurring phenomenon in privately-owned garments and knitwear sector, the country’s highest foreign exchange earners.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other bodies have censured the uits in the past for poor industrial relations and not honouring agreements reached with workers’ bodies.