Staff Reporter :
Research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said, defective procedures led to recent labour unrest in the garments sector throughout the country, including Dhaka.
The research organisation has also found inadequacies in the systems used to inform workers about their wage increase.
The CPD highlighted its findings at a discussion titled ‘Recent Disputes in the Garment Sector: What Have We Learned?” at the BRAC Centre Inu in Dhaka on Saturday.
The organisation also placed some recommendations as to how to avoid such unrest in the future. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, who was present as the chief guest in the programme, praised the recommendations, but industrial owners opined that the recommendations were not applicable in a country like Bangladesh.
These recommendations included a managing body for the implementation of the new wage and to raise awareness among workers, more in-depth discussions with related bodies ahead of such wage increase in the future, more clarity for female garment workers regarding their grade, wage and other financial issues, the establishment of better communications between workers and management, to prevent the harassment of protesters and a joint council for brands and buyers to consider how factories will deal with the pressure of higher wages.
Labour unrest began in the garment sector at the start of the new year after the implementation
of the new wage structure. The situation calmed after the government revised the wage grades and structure.
CPD researchers Khondkar Golam Moazzam and Mohammad Ali presented the findings of the research about the unrest based on interviews with 61 workers, factory owners and buyers from Dhaka, Savar, Ashulia, Tongi and Gazipur.
According to the CPD, defective procedures in the announcement of the new wage structure and its implementation gave rise to the labour unrest.
The organisation said these institutional issues regarding the setting of the wage were not sufficiently handled. The disparities in wages between the various grades also gave rise to a mixed reception among garment workers regarding the new structure, it said.
In addition, owners did not take any initiative to give workers a clear idea as to how their wages would be executed beforehand, CPD said.
Moreover, despite the new wage structure, many factories did not implement it, the research found.
Chaired by Prominent Economist Professor Rehman Sobhan, among CPD fellow Dr Debopriyo Vottacharga and other garments owners, labour organisation leaders, were present.
Research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said, defective procedures led to recent labour unrest in the garments sector throughout the country, including Dhaka.
The research organisation has also found inadequacies in the systems used to inform workers about their wage increase.
The CPD highlighted its findings at a discussion titled ‘Recent Disputes in the Garment Sector: What Have We Learned?” at the BRAC Centre Inu in Dhaka on Saturday.
The organisation also placed some recommendations as to how to avoid such unrest in the future. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, who was present as the chief guest in the programme, praised the recommendations, but industrial owners opined that the recommendations were not applicable in a country like Bangladesh.
These recommendations included a managing body for the implementation of the new wage and to raise awareness among workers, more in-depth discussions with related bodies ahead of such wage increase in the future, more clarity for female garment workers regarding their grade, wage and other financial issues, the establishment of better communications between workers and management, to prevent the harassment of protesters and a joint council for brands and buyers to consider how factories will deal with the pressure of higher wages.
Labour unrest began in the garment sector at the start of the new year after the implementation
of the new wage structure. The situation calmed after the government revised the wage grades and structure.
CPD researchers Khondkar Golam Moazzam and Mohammad Ali presented the findings of the research about the unrest based on interviews with 61 workers, factory owners and buyers from Dhaka, Savar, Ashulia, Tongi and Gazipur.
According to the CPD, defective procedures in the announcement of the new wage structure and its implementation gave rise to the labour unrest.
The organisation said these institutional issues regarding the setting of the wage were not sufficiently handled. The disparities in wages between the various grades also gave rise to a mixed reception among garment workers regarding the new structure, it said.
In addition, owners did not take any initiative to give workers a clear idea as to how their wages would be executed beforehand, CPD said.
Moreover, despite the new wage structure, many factories did not implement it, the research found.
Chaired by Prominent Economist Professor Rehman Sobhan, among CPD fellow Dr Debopriyo Vottacharga and other garments owners, labour organisation leaders, were present.
