The consensus process was taken forward in a tripartite meeting on June 1 whereby specific accord was reached on trade union rights in export industry 'without restrictions'.

After a short-lived lull, however, trouble has ensued afresh as garment workers at Savar and Gazipur vandalised some factories over arrear pay and low wages.

As a mater of fact, the garment employees associations feel chagrined at the delay in implementing the decisions of the May 24 tripartite meeting. They have issued an ultimatum that the accords already made by all parties must now be implemented in a fortnight's time or else their agitation would be intensified after the deadline.

Ultimatum or no ultimatum, we feel that there is an evident need for all parties concerned to realise how high the stakes are. We don't understand why a convincing start has not been made by the government and the factory owners in implementing the agreement reached by all parties as far back as May 24! There has been a lot of talking while action has been very little to write home about.

We also feel that there is a need to engender a more cordial and workable owner-worker relationship, which should involve more talking to each other than at each other and where issues relating to the workers problems would be mutually ironed out. It is somewhat encouraging, however, to note that a handful of factory owners have initiated steps to appoint appropriate persons in their human resource sections to improve the employee-employer relations.

It is the wish of all that our garment industry should never again face a disruptive situation, and the only way to avoid it is to address the genuine interest of all concerned with sincerity and commitment.