Ensure fair treatment of garment workers during Eid

At Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati, we believe that spending the holiday with family is everyone's right. Every year during Eid, garment workers work overtime to earn bonuses so they can have a joyful time with their families. However, they face the same problems every Eid: their bonuses and payments are either not paid on time or not at the proper rate. We raised this issue to ensure such inconveniences are avoided.

We all demanded that wages and bonuses be paid by June 10, but this was not met. Some factory workers also requested half of their monthly salary, which was ignored as well. It is disruptive to give workers their wages and payments on the last day before the holidays.

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Meanwhile, the factory owners enjoy lavish vacations, and perhaps even go abroad. The joy of spending quality time with family is taken away from the workers in these factories.

Another issue we want to address is the surge in transport fares during this time. There should be measures to control fare hikes and address safety issues during Eid holidays. It has become common for transport services to overcharge without government intervention ahead of the holidays. Additionally, travellers often use unsafe methods during this time. This is largely due to the huge wave of people travelling to and from the cities at the same time. We don't have the mechanism in place to ensure safety during this time.

We want workers to enjoy a proper holiday like everyone else. Transportation safety and fair transportation fare must be ensured. Companies should pay workers at least an amount equal to their basic wages as Eid bonus. While some factories comply with this rule following compliance regulations, many others simply ignore it.

As told to Monorom Polock of The Daily Star.

Taslima Akhter is president of the Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati and a photographer. She can be reached at taslima_74@yahoo.com.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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