The New Nation - Internet Edition

AS reported in the press, several thousand garment workers were locked in violent clashes with the police force in Tejgaon Industrial Area on Saturday. They injured fifty persons including four police personnel. In addition, they created disturbance in the entire industrial area, where thousands of workers were at work in different factories. The workers of the Nasa Group and the Sepal group at Begunbari in the Tejgaon Industrial Area started demonstrating in front of the factory. They raised demand for increasing allowances for Iftar during current month of Ramzan and for ensuring payment of wages on time.

The overall situation in the garment factories have turned dangerous. Agitating workers have not only stopped production but also damaged the machinery and buildings of factories. They used weapons including bricks and bamboo-sticks to hit management officials and machinery. They even opted for seting fire to stores of finished garment

The agitators stopped the movement of automobiles and barricaded the railway line for hours. The situation turned volatile and the members of the armed forces and the Rapid Action Batalion were deployed by the authorities for tackling the situation. The issues of allowances for Iftar could have been raised in bilateral meetings with the management personnel of factories and resolved with necessary decision taken amicably.

Similar incidents of violent clashes between the industrial workers and their managers and members of law enforcing agencies are taking place in the industrial zones time and again. The owners represented in the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) have noted the incidents and presented their version on the labour unrest in garment factories for months. The damages done to the factories were quite heavy and the effect of the damages will be felt in the form of loss of export orders. All concerned including the law-enforcing agencies urged the owners and workers of garment factories to resolve issues like payment of wages and other allowances through bilateral deals.

The assertions of the BGMEA leaders that some quarters have started using the workers to destroy the garment industry have to be taken seriously by the government and dispassionate quarters in the country. Any conspiracy instigated through so-called leaders of the trade unions in the field has to be monitored for necessary action. The uptrend in the investment in garment sector and the increase in export earnings from finished garment are quite impressive. Effective measures have to be taken by the government and the entrepreneurial class for sustaining the growth of the garment sector. Properly motivated workers cannot cause damage to factories and loss of production which may worsen unemployment problems.