‘You are all on the same boat’: Jute leaders lambastes govt, warns of agitation

Jute-Yarn and Textile mills Workers-Employees' Sangram Parishad has urged the government to reopen state-owned jute mills, adding advanced and modern technology, instead of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or lease.

"The government should accept our proposal to modernise the jute mills by investing Tk1,200 crore and take initiative to implement it. Those involved in corruption in the jute sector should also be punished," it also said.

The workers' platform put forward their demands with a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Wednesday.

At the press conference, Shahidullah Chowdhury, convener of the platform, said no research has been done on why the jute mills are losing concerns. The lack of advanced technology is one of the key reasons for this crisis. Their view is that with modernization, advanced technology, and efficient management, the jute industry can be profitable.

"The BNP-Jamaat alliance government closed Adamjee Jute Mill on the advice of the World Bank. At that time, the Awami League (AL) criticised it.  In 1993, the World Bank signed an agreement with the BNP government to close jute mills, calling it a jute sector reform program. The Awami League government fully implemented that agreement with the World Bank, by closing 25 state-owned jute mills. They are all boatmen of the same boat," he said. 

In a written statement, Quamrul Ahsan, joint convener of the platform, said when the 25 jute mills were declared closed last year due to continuous losses, about 51,000 permanent and temporary workers were laid off under the Golden Handshake scheme. Of them, 24,000 were permanent workers, 20,000 were substitutes, and 6,000 were temporary workers.

He said workers across the country at the 25 state-owned jute mills that were closed in 2020, have not yet received their arrears and no dues were paid to the substitute workers either. These jobless workers are now in dire straits in these difficult Covid-19 pandemic times.

 If the government itself breaks the law then the people have no place to seek redress, Quamrul Ahsan added.

Shahidullah Chowdhury, also president of the Bangladesh Trade Union Center (TUC), warned the government that workers may be outraged if the jute mills are not reopened. An outburst can come any time, which will not be pleasant for the government, he said.

Sangram Parishad leaders Kishore Roy and Aslam Khan, and Abdul Gofran,  Labour Union leader at Karim Jute mill, were present at the press conference.