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Garment factories to stay open

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  • 03
  • Mar

Garment factories to stay open

Production units of garment factories are allowed to be kept open albeit with adequate safety measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus, reiterated the government yesterday.

The decision came at a tripartite meeting of union leaders, factory owners and government higher-ups at Srama Bhaban in Dhaka with Begum Monnujan Sufian, state minister for labor and employment, in the chair.

The same decision was taken by the trio on Saturday.

Sufian in a statement said it is not yet time to shut the factories down; rather, production units should stay open with adequate safety measures to protect workers from COVID-19.

“We have strengthened the safety measures for the workers to protect them from coronavirus,” said Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

The workers are being provided with masks.

“Workers come first. And then us. Global scene is killing us. Without export, we will be facing tough uncertainties. We support 4.1 million people and their families. Pray so that we can continue doing that,” Huq said in a WhatsApp message.

Until 5:00 pm yesterday, 385 factories had work orders worth $1.05 billion cancelled by international retailers, according to the BGMEA.

Sirajul Islam Rony, a former workers’ representative for garment workers’ minimum wage board, in the meeting, said he supported keeping the factories open.

If the factories are closed down now, the workers will face big trouble as they will not have money in their hands.

“In the greater interest of the workers I supported keeping the factories open,” he said after the meeting.

Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation, suggested keeping the garment factories open with safety gears for workers in place.

For instance, electronic thermal scanning machines can be installed in front of every garment factory to identify workers suspected of being infected with the coronavirus.

Moreover, the factory owners will have to provide face masks and other necessary safety gears to workers so that they can continue working in the factories while the coronavirus pandemic persists, he added.

He also suggested meetings be held amongst the government, buyers, owners and workers to resolve any related crisis.

During such a critical moment, overtime should be stopped and workers should just run their normal working hours, he said.

Meanwhile leaders of Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), in a meeting at Sromo Bhaban, also decided in favour of keeping factories open. Holding an emergency meeting with Sufian later on, they conveyed some demands.

The SKOP, a platform of 11 labour rights bodies, demanded ensuring proper protective measures in all industrial units, including garment factories, across the country to protect workers from getting infected with COVID-19.

They also demanded to ration of daily essentials and medicines for workers alongside quarantine arrangements, if needed, at industrial zones.

The platform requested that monthly wages be ensured in full if the government was forced to announce factory closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The SKOP leaders also demanded an emergency fund worth Tk 50 billion for workers and formation of a task force comprising representatives of workers, owners and the government.

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