Staff Reporter :
Hundreds of workers from two garment factories have taken to the streets of Dhaka’s Motijheel demanding back pay for the month of March amid the ongoing lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Disgruntled workers of Binni Garments and Sardar Garments in Kamalapur began their protests at 9 am on Thursday, according to Motijheel Police Inspector Monir Hossain Molla.
“The workers of Binni Garments were placated once the owners started clearing their dues. Sardar Garments told police that they would start paying the salaries from the afternoon,” The protests came a
day after hundreds of garment workers, risking infection, demonstrated on the streets of Ashulia, Uttara, Badda, Bhatara, Mirpur, Bhasahntek, Shah Ali, Tejgaon and Motijheel to demand payment of outstanding wages. Bangladesh announced a nationwide shutdown of offices and workplaces, including garment factories, until Apr 25 as the number of coronavirus infections and deaths continued to soar since the first cases were detected last month.
In a bid to cushion the economic impact of the global coronavirus pandemic, the government also rolled out a Tk 50 billion bailout package for the exporting sectors, mostly readymade garment factories, to pay workers.
The government warned factory owners that they would face action if they failed to pay the workers by Apr 16.
But as of Apr 15, the day before the deadline, nearly half of the 2,274 members of the garment exporters’ lobby BGMEA had not paid their workers, BGMEA President Rubana Huq said on Wednesday.
