Garment manufacturers in Bangladesh expect labor unrest over payment of wages and Id festival allowances. A large number of factories have been struggling to pay workers their monthly wages and other facilities for a long time. There are about a thousand such factories. Most of these are small and medium-sized and are faced with a shortage of fresh work orders.
Leaders of garment workers have demanded payment of festival allowances and other dues by July 20 to avert any untoward incident. Unrest in the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh has become a common phenomenon in recent years. Reasons include declaration of lay-off or factory closures and termination and curtailment of holidays. Garment workers engage in violent clashes at times on rumors or are so instigated. They may lack proper counseling or have poor relations with management. A kind of mistrust exists between employers and employees.
Other causes of labor unrest are lack of minimum facility and safety, sub-standards living conditions, deferred benefits, coercive role of the law-enforcing agency, too much dependence on buyers, political instability, inhuman workload etc.
When workers go on the rampage and destroy public property and national assets, companies lose working hours and production targets. Export earnings are hampered.
