RMG workers
Initiatives taken to establish fair price shops for RMG workers
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Switzerland-based international development organisation, has come forward with consultancy assistance to set up shops at RMG factories to sell goods at comparatively lower prices to the workers.
Under the initiative, about 80,000 people (20,000 female workers and 60,000 family members) are likely to get benefits.
This announcement came at a kick-off meeting titled ‘RMG Workers’ Access to Affordable Nutritious and Safe Food’ at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday.
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GAIN organised the meeting with the participation of partner organizations and stakeholders to chalk out future strategy on technical assistance and how to make the initiative success.
Mohammad Ehsan-E-Elahi, secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, attended the meeting as chief guest while Moniruzzaman Bipul, portfolio lead of GAIN Bangladesh, delivered the welcome address and GM Reza Sumon, manager of workforce nutrition project of GAIN Bangladesh, presented the keynote paper.
With Dr Rudaba Khondker, country director of GAIN Bangladesh, in the chair at the meeting where Dr Hasan Shariar Kabir, director general of Bangladesh National Nutrition Council and Faruque Hassan, president of BGMEA, among others spoke at the event.
It was shared at the meeting that the project aims at ensuring access to nutritious foods for RMG workers with affordable prices and strengthening the food marketing management.
It also aims at working for ensuring nutritious and safe foods for RMG workers so that they can play more productive role for production in the RMG sector.
Praising the initiative, Mohammad Ehsan-E-Elahi called for the expansion of such facility to other factories across the country.
Speakers said it is imperative to give priority to the issue of safe and nutritious food for the workers, for implementing the government’s Perspective Plan 2021-2041 and achieving SDGs.
The speakers called upon those involved in production, processing, supply and marketing of foods to establish fair price shops with nutritious foods at factory areas along with encouraging the workers to take such foods.
Read more: Bangladesh to stay safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA
Mentionable, several shops have so far been set up at two factories at Ashulia and Gazipur with the support of GAIN. About 15,000 RMG workers along with their family members are entitled to buy essentials from those shops with a special discount.
MasterCard prepaid card launched for RMG workers
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Mastercard, have launched co-branded credit cards for the BGMEA members, and prepaid cards for more than 4.5 million readymade garments (RMG) workers.
Mutual Trust Bank will issue the MasterCard World credit cards and the prepaid cards by Southeast Bank Limited (SEBL).
The prepaid cards will help disbursement of garment workers' wages, the BGMEA said Saturday.
The RMG workers of the BGMEA enlisted factories will get the SEBL MasterCard prepaid card, which is designed to provide more convenient, safer, and smarter options for payments rather than cash, it added.
Mastercard World credit cards are designed for the BGMEA members and senior executives of its member factories, allowing cardholders to conduct local and cross-border transactions with ease and convenience.
Read more: Mastercard, Visa suspend operations in Russia after invasion
Cardholders can carry out dual-interface global transactions, which also support ATM, POS, QR, and e-commerce payments along with usage of travel lounge services locally and internationally.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, Mastercard Country Manager Syed Mohammad Kamal, Mutual Trust Managing Director and CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman, and SEBL Managing Director M Kamal Hossain signed the agreement.
BGMEA directors Barrister Shehrin Salam Oishee, Tanvir Ahmed, Mijanur Rahman, Neela Hosna Ara; Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Press, Publication and Publicity Shovon Islam, and Chairman of BGMEA Standing Committee on UD-Woven and Knit Md Nurul Islam were also present.
Read more: Nagad launches service for paying Mastercard Credit Card Bill
Traffic congestion at Motijheel as RMG workers protest factory relocation
Motijheel and its adjacent areas witnessed a huge traffic jam on Tuesday morning as workers of a RMG factory blocked roads protesting relocation of their factory to Keraniganj.
According to the workers, the authority of Olio Apparels Ltd has relocated the factory from North Kamalapur area in the capital to Keraniganj without any prior notice.
At least 400 to 500 workers put up barricade at different points in Motijheel area at 8:30 am, hampering movement of vehicles, said Yasir Arafat, officer-in-Charge of Motijheel police station.
BGMEA teams up with upay to disburse stipends among RMG officials, workers
The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have signed an agreement with mobile financial services provider to disburse stipends among mid-level readymade garments (RMG) officials and workers.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and upay Managing Director and CEO Rezaul Hossain inked the deal in Dhaka Thursday.
Under this agreement, the participants of the BGMEA-SEIP skill development project, an initiative for skill development of mid-level officials and workers of the RMG sector, will receive their stipend directly into their upay accounts.
Read: Norway can help accelerate green growth of Bangladesh's RMG: BGMEA
The BGMEA-SEIP is jointly funded by the government and the Asian Development Bank and is being implemented by the BGMEA.
Faruque said: "The RMG industry is gearing up for the next level of growth where skill development is a top priority to equip the workforce with the skills and knowledge to meet the need of the industry in the coming days."
Nagad, Swisscontact team up to enhance financial inclusion of RMG workers
Mobile financial service Nagad and Switzerland's Zurich-based non-profit organisation Swisscontact recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the financial inclusion of apparel workers through a digital platform.
The initiative, a part of "Sarathi – Improving Financial Health," aims to introduce ready-made garment (RMG) workers to the easily-accessible services of Nagad and increase their digital literacy by raising awareness, according to a media statement.
Nagad CEO Rahel Ahmed and Mujibul Hasan (Cezanne), country director of Swisscontact Bangladesh, signed the MoU in the capital.
Read: Nagad launches add-money service from Meghna Bank
Sarathi – Improving Financial Health project was launched by Swisscontact, under which both organisations seek to reach about 17,400 RMG workers and their communities with digital financial products and services.
The programme is anticipated to encourage beneficiaries to transact their digital currency in alternative avenues. The project will run until October 20.
The joint initiative will include uddokta, merchants, and educational institutions. Through this initiative, Nagad and Swisscontact will conduct activities to raise financial awareness among the RMG workers and their communities.
Read BURO partners with Nagad for easier savings, instalment payments
RMG workers stage demo for third consecutive day demanding pay rise
Workers from various ready-made garment (RMG) factories have blocked the roads in Dhaka’s Mirpur and Uttara area for the third consecutive day.
Agitated workers from Juki, Loadstar, Sarosh, Vision Garment, Palka, MBM Garment blocked roads in Mirpur-13, 14 Police Staff College, Mirpur-2 and 10 and Kachukhet areas on Monday morning demanding pay rise amid the sudden price hike of daily essentials.
Police baton-charged the crowd and fired tear shells to disperse the protesters.
Vehicular movement in these areas has been interrupted due to the demonstrations, creating traffic congestion that caused immense suffering to commuters.
Also read: RMG workers stage demo in city demanding wage hike
Workers claimed that their salary is not sufficient to run their families in recent times as the prices of daily necessities have gone up.
One of the protesters from Lodestar Garments said “The salary we are getting is not enough for our daily meals so we are compelled to take to the streets.”
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Mirpur Division ASM Mahatab Uddin said that there is no blockade on any road.
In addition, workers of several garments, including Intraco Design, Intraco Fashion Limited, at Uttara have blocked the streets demanding the same.
During the protest, they targeted some buses and threw bricks. Police later fired tear gas to disperse them.
Earlier on Saturday, the protesters burnt three police motorcycles and vandalized a vehicle of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) parked in front of Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium at Mirpur-10.
Also read: RMG workers stage demonstrations for arrears in Gazipur
After that, police held some eight to ten of the protesters over the incident.
RMG workers stage demo in city demanding wage hike
Hundreds of workers of different garment factories in Mirpur area of the city have been staging demonstrations demanding a hike in wages.
Abu Raihan Mohammad Saleh, joint commissioner of traffic (north), said workers of different garment factories took to the streets at Mirpur-10 Golchhatar area after 8 am.
Later, workers of garment workers from adjacent areas, including Kazipara, Shewrapar and Agargaon, also joined them to express their solidarity with them.
READ: RMG workers stage demonstrations for arrears in Gazipur
A number of garment factories were vandalised during the demonstrations.
Vehicular movement from Mirpur-1 to Agargaon remained halted for several hours, causing sufferings to the commuters especially the officer goers.
Speakers call for ensuring functional Safety Committees at RMG factories
Speakers at a programme stressed the need for establishing functional Safety Committees at all garment factories in the country to ensure occupational health and safety of the workers.
The function titled “Commemorating Rana Plaza Tragedy: Present OSH Situation in the RMG Sector and Way Forward” was organised by the Solidarity Center-Bangladesh Office at Hotel Asia, Paltan in the city under its USAID’s Workers’ Empowerment and Participation (WEP) Activity to commemorate the Rana Plaza Tragedy.
Also read: BGMEA, CNN willing to team up to promote Bangladesh RMG industry
The speakers said that it has been long nine years since the worst tragedy in the RMG sector in the country. Still there is a long way to go in terms of improving the health and safety conditions in the factories, they said.
Addressing the function Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Labor and Employment Shamsunnahar Bhuiyan said, “We have the responsibility of finding the weaknesses of Safety Committees and resolving them accordingly.”
There can neither be any negligence in their work nor corruption”, she said adding, the stakeholders have to identify the needs of Rana Plaza victims and assist them accordingly.
Advocate AKM Nasim, Country Program Director, Solidarity Center, Bangladesh Office, said after Rana Plaza tragedy, Accord, Alliance and now the RSC are working for a safer workplace.
“We have advanced a lot but still how much the safety committees in factories are able to function is a question. Worker representatives should be allowed to play a stronger role in Safety Committees”, he said.
Advocate Nazrul Islam, Program Officer at the Solidarity Center in his presentation highlighted that research needs to be conducted on weaknesses and challenges and how to make Safety Committees functional.
Also read: Let’s join hands to create brighter future for RMG industry: BGMEA
He added that it is extremely vital to build the capacity of the members of Safety Committee on Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) through training, orientation, learning visits, etc.
Professor Dr. Jakir Hossain said that institutional and legal framework should be strengthened to prevent any accidents in future.
Nazma Yesmin, Director at BILS, said that the injured victims should be given long term medical treatment and health care facilities.
Salauddin Shapon, President of Bangladesh Revolutionary Garment Workers Federation (BRGWF) said that a lot of actions were taken to overcome safety issues in the past few years but now the development has become stagnant..
Participants called for improving fire safety arrangements for the workers and introducing trade union and Safety Committee in all the garment factories.
Advocate A.K.M. Nasim, Country Program Director of the Solidarity Center, Salauddin Shapon, President of Bangladesh Revolutionary Garment Workers Federation, Dr. Jakir Hossain, Professor at Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University, Nazma Yesmin, Director at BILS and Advocate Md. Borkot Ali, Deputy Director (Legal) of BLAST spoke at the event.
Representatives from USAID, ILO, SKOP, NCCWE, Sajeda Foundation, BLF, Labor Court Bar were also present in the event.
RMG workers block road for Eid bonus, 20 hurt in clash with cops in Savar
At least 20 people were injured as in a clash between police and garment workers when the latter blocked Nabinagar-Chandra highway at Palashbari in Ashulia on Sunday demanding Eid bonus and additional leave.
A group of workers of Skyline Group took to the street in front of their factory and staged demonstrations, halting vehicular movement on Nabinagar-Chandra highway around 12pm.
Also read: RMG workers block Dhaka-N’ganj road demanding payment of dues
On information, industrial police and Ashulia police went to the spot and asked the workers to go back to their workplace, triggering a chase and counter-chase between police and workers.
Police fired rubber bullets, lobbed tear gas to disperse them, leaving 20 people injured, alleged the workers.
During the clashes, the agitated workers vandalised at least 10 vehicles moving on the highway and of the factory.
Traffic on the highway returned to normal after an hour when the workers left the highway.
Meanwhile, the factory has declared a general holiday for today. The injured workers were rescued and given first aid.
SM Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, said action will be taken in this regard after investigation.
Also read: RMG workers go on rampage in Gazipur; Bus torched
Additional police force have been deployed in front of the factory to fend off further trouble, he added.
On the other hand, the workers have abstained from work in a ready-made garment factory in Khejurbagan area of Ashulia to press home their various demands.
RMG workers block Dhaka-N’ganj road demanding payment of dues
Workers of a garment factory at Fatullah in Narayanganj blocked Dhaka-Narayanganj Link road on Thursday morning demanding payment of their dues.
Around 300-400 workers of Rupashi Garments took to the streets near Shibu Market area around 10 am and put up barricade on the road, halting traffic movement.
Read: Khulna oil tanker workers call off strike
Rakibuzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Fatullah Model Police Station, said the agitated workers vandalised some vehicles plying the road when police tried to send them back to their workplace from the road.
A chase and counter-chase took place between police and workers when some workers hurled brick bats towards police, he said.
Meanwhile, around 15-20 workers were injured when police charged baton and opened fire and tear shells on the protesting workers to disperse them, alleged the workers.
Read:RMG workers go on rampage in Gazipur; Bus torched
However, traffic movement on the road returned to normal around 2pm as police brought the situation under control, said the OC.