609 BGMEA factories miss payment deadline of 16 April

Desk Report: Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), however, claimed 1,665 of its members paid their workers within Thursday, 16^th April 2020, the deadline they promised to the government following the announcement of a bailout package. But still 609 factories could not pay as the banks were operating for limited hours and the transport system was shut down.

According to the association, 73 percent of its members have cleared the payments, which means 87 percent workers of the sector have got their wages.

It said 97 factories in Dhaka and 119 others in Chattogram were at the final stages of paying their workers.

“The rest of the factories will try to pay the wages between Apr 20 and 22. We will try not to drag the date to Apr 25,” BGMEA President Rubana Huq said.

Around 2.16 million of the over 2.4 million workers have been paid their wages, according to her.

Rubana claimed the workers who protested for back pay on Wednesday and Thursday were not of factories registered with the association.