Government should come forward with all out assistance to keep the RMG sector running in full speed. This vital sector has reached today’s position after years of struggle and going through ups and downs. This sector has created employment opportunities for 4 million people. This sector alone earns about 78% of the yearly foreign exchange earnings of the country. The growth rate of RMG export was over 20% per over the last two decades.
RMG sector has set the target of export earnings of $ 50 billion on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh. Achieving this target will be possible if this sector continues its activities smoothly. But, recently some problems have appeared in some factories as a result of which workers are expressing their unhappiness. These should be resolved through dialogue between the two parties.
At the end of last August, a factory reportedly sacked 700 workers out of 6,500 employees of the company.
This company is capable of producing 1 million dresses per month and it supplies dresses to some world famous brands. Company authorities said they were compelled to sack the workers as their purchase order was decreased by 50 percent. However, according to RMG workers organisations, those workers were sacked as they were involved in trade union.
In last 4 months from May to August at least 16,849 RMG workers lost their job. People concerned think those are ominous signs for the highest foreign currency earning sector. In the past, some vested quarters tried to create unrest in this sector with an evil motive to destroy the country’s growing economy which is in a great extent depends on the export earnings of RMG sector. The conspirators are still hatching plot to destroy the sector.
Sources said that in the past sometimes the company owners would shut down the whole factory, at present, in most cases, factory owners are shutting down a part of the factory and sacking a big number of workers. Sometimes, the BGMEA is also not informed about this. However, authorities say that they sack workers for the sake of the survival of the companies as they get much less purchase order than before. Some of the company owners say it is difficult for them to pay their workers as per the new wage board.
However, the garment workers organizations do not agree with the owners’ statements saying that the owners do not speak the truth about their business and profit. BGMEA senior vice president Faysal Samad said the overall situation in the RMG sector is not that good. “Purchase order from buyers have decreased. Some competitor countries are also working here. Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Vietnam have been getting more purchase order. As a result purchase order is decreasing in our country.
Because of these reasons many RMG factories in our country have failed to survive in the competition. So, many owners were compelled to shut down their factories,” he added. Former BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman said most of the RMG factories that have been shut down so far were non-compliant. Many of the owners are struggling to make their factories compliant. On the other hand, purchase order has decreased. Many of the orders are being shifted to Pakistan. Because exchange rate of US Dollar with Pakistani Rupee is much lower than that of Bangladeshi Taka. All these reasons have equal effect behind shutting down of the RMG factories, he added.
The government should take immediate measures so that the conspirators cannot create any unrest and make the RMG sector vulnerable, BGMEA sources said.
