21% industrial factories yet to pay Eid bonus, no major untoward incidents: Industrial Police

Nearly 21% or 1,999 industrial factories have yet to pay bonuses to their employees, even with only three days left before the country is set to celebrate the Eid-ul-Adha, one of the major Muslim festivals.

Of the factories, 497 belong to the textile and the ready-made garments sectors, according to Industrial Police data updated till 3pm today (4 June).

On top of unpaid bonuses, of the said factories 82 are yet to pay April salaries to their employees.

Industrial Police and the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), however, noted that despite unpaid bonuses and salaries, there had been no big unrest in any factories so far.

According to the Industrial Police, there are a total of 2,888 factories operating under the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone (Bepza).

The total number of industrial factories in the country is 9,686. Among the factories that had not paid their bonus till this afternoon, 279 are members of BGMEA, 130 of BKMEA, 81 of BTMA, and 7 operate in the Bepza area.

BGMEA Administrator Mohammad Anwar Hossain did not respond to calls seeking his comment on the issues of unpaid salaries and bonuses.

However, a senior BKMEA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said out of their 580 member factories, only one factory had a problem with salaries till today, but there was no unrest over it.

The official said, "Factories cleared salaries and bonuses even after the Industrial Police data was updated. So the real number will be less than their data.

"Some factories have some work to be done. If all the salary-bonuses are paid, the workers may not be available on the last day. For this reason, some may have saved the bonus; they will pay it after work on Thursday," the BKMEA official added.

Meanwhile, despite May ending four days ago, Industrial Police said it had no data on how many factories paid the salaries for the month to their employees.

However, speaking to The Business Standard, workers and owners said some of the factories have paid half or full salary for May.

Industrial police said that while no big unrest has occurred, a section of workers from at least two factories have been staying at the DIFE head office in Paltan in the capital for some time, demanding their salaries.

"In addition, the owner of a factory named Seasons Dresses Limited in Gazipur has been reported to have gone missing after not paying the outstanding salaries and bonuses.

"Efforts are being made to pay the salaries of the factory with the help of law enforcement agencies," Mahar Ali Mollah, deputy inspector general [DIG] of DIFE Gazipur office, told The Business Standard. "The number of workers in the factory is 1,300."

He said, "Efforts are being made to settle the dues by tomorrow through an agreement with the subcontractors of the factory. Law enforcement agencies have also been involved in this. Hopefully, the dues will be cleared tomorrow."

Mollah also said another factory in Gazipur, Hong Kong Fashions Ltd, has failed to pay salaries and bonuses. "Hence, with the intervention of senior government officials, initiatives have been taken to pay the dues with the help of the company's bank concerned."

He claimed that the amount of dissatisfaction over the salary and bonus issue before this Eid is very less compared to the last Eid.

Meanwhile, TBS's Savar correspondent also said there was no news of unrest in any factory located in Savar over the salary-bonus issue.

Although there was dissatisfaction in some factories, including Mahmud Denims Limited and Dird Garments before Eid, there was no news of unrest today in those factories, as they had reached an agreement in advance.

The president and general secretary of the largest representative platform of workers, IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, could not be reached over the phone for a comment in this regard.

However, labour leader Joly Talukder told TBS that there was no news of major dissatisfaction today.