PM Orders Law Enforcers to Keep Garment Production Running; Gazette Issued Forming New Wage Board
Prime Minister Tareq Rahman has directed law enforcement agencies to keep production at ready-made garment factories running while ensuring the security of people's lives and property. The direction came on Sunday (November 1) night after an emergency meeting at the Secretariat over labour unrest.
Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury disclosed the information at a briefing after the emergency meeting between the head of government and ministers and advisers.
At the briefing, the minister said the government will counter politically any attempt to destabilise the garment sector ahead of December. At the same time, the prime minister has instructed law enforcement agencies to keep garment factory production going and ensure the safety of lives and property, he said.
Earlier on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Tareq Rahman sat in a meeting with several ministers and advisers at the Secretariat to decide on steps to address the worker unrest.
The meeting discussed the current state of the labour unrest, its causes and the steps needed to resolve the problems that have arisen.
Meanwhile, the government has published a gazette forming a wage board to set a new wage structure for garment workers. The gazette was issued on Sunday from the wage board branch of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Under the gazette, BGMEA director ABM Shamsuddin has been appointed as the owners' representative member for the industry concerned, and Babul Akhtar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), as the workers' representative member employed in the industry.
In addition, Dhaka University public administration professor Dr Mosleh Uddin Ahmed has been appointed as the neutral member of the minimum wage board. Bangladesh Employers' Federation joint secretary general Asif Ayub has been appointed as an owners' representative member and Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal president Anwar Hossain as a workers' representative member.
