The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Garment owners should pay the current month's salary and Eid bonus to the workers on time before Eid- ul-Fitr and also immediately resolve the existing problems in the sector through understanding with them.

Besides, the owners of the readymade garments who are not paying salaries to the workers as per the agreement would be identified and forced to pay wages on time.

This was decided at a meeting of the Social Compliance Forum (SCF) on Readymade Garments (RMG) Industries today at the conference room of the Commerce Ministry with Commerce Secretary Firoz Ahmed in the chair, an official handout said.

The forum gave the responsibility to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to make a standard format to monitor the payment to the garment workers as well as ensuring working atmosphere in the factories.

It was told at the meeting that a team of the SCF visited 15 factories, including 10 in Dhaka, to monitor the working atmosphere and observed that no child labourer is now working in the garment sector.

The meeting said 97 percent factories have implemented the minimum wages and 95 percent factories have issued appointment cards to the workers.

In consideration of the standard, 53.52 percent factories are standard, 28 percent medium and 17.76 percent factories are

Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Dr Mahfuzul Haque, Additional Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Golam Mostakim, General Manager of BEPZA M Khorshed Alam, Executive Director of Karmajibi Nari Rokeya Rafiq and representatives of ILO, Oxfam, BKMEA, BGMEA and different ministries were present, among others.