Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Garments Workers’ Action Council, a combine of rights groups for apparel workers, has urged the government to take steps so that they could get paid wages and festival allowance by October 20 before the Eid-ul-Azha.
The second biggest Muslim festival, Eid-ul-Azha, is scheduled to be held on October 27.
The combine’s coordinator Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, at a press conference at the central office of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh on Saturday, said that apparel factory owners must pay their workers before October 20.
The apparel workers are low paid and that is why they need to get paid their wages and the festival allowance before Eid, the leader added.
On the other hand, the garment makers have decided to pay a portion of the workers' current month's salary along with the festival bonus ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha in advance.
Generally, workers get a month's salary within the first week of the next month.
This time, the owners have decided in consultation with the workers to pay a portion of the October's salary by October 20 or October 24, The Daily Star, a local newspaper, reported quoting Siddiqur Rahman, a vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
BBN/SSR/AD-14Oct12-11:50 am (BST)
