Workers from three garment manufacturing facilities owned by the group — TNZ Apparels, Apparel Plus Eco, and Apparel Art — have been protesting at the Shrom Bhaban in Dhaka for the past five days, demanding payment of wages owed to them for the last three months.
The workers highlighted the recurring breaches of trilateral contracts, which were established to resolve salary and benefit disputes among factory proprietors, labourers, and government authorities, pertaining to the three manufacturing facilities.
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Local news publication The Financial Express reported that the workers received just above Tk10m from the outstanding dues. The distribution of Tk10.5m was also confirmed through an official release.
Meanwhile, local news publication The Business Standard (TBS) claimed workers at the three garment manufacturing units reported outstanding dues amounting to approximately Tk177.8m for unpaid salaries, bonuses, and additional benefits, yet they only received a collective payment of Tk10.5m on 27 March.
The report details the workforce at TNZ Apparels is awaiting over Tk69.4m for February and March wages, alongside more than Tk16.9m designated for Eid bonuses.
Furthermore, 826 individuals employed by Apparel Eco Plus are collectively owed about Tk67.5m encompassing January to March salaries, Eid bonuses, and other financial entitlements.
In another case, Apparel Art has an outstanding balance of Tk20.4m in arrears for a three-month period covering wages, Eid bonuses, and allowances for its 240 workers.
The employees from TNZ Group have voiced their discontent with the government’s handling of the situation regarding their financial compensation.
TNZ workers were quoted by TBS as saying: “On the one hand, the government is terming the workers’ protests as ‘incitement’, and on the other hand, the government is ignoring the peaceful movement day after day.
“In this situation, if we do not receive our dues, including Eid bonus, we will continue our programme. If our dues are not paid before Eid, if necessary, we will go to the chief advisor to present our demands.”
Following a meeting with labour and employment secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman at the Shrom Bhaban, the company committed to arranging the amount, by selling some of its machinery, The Financial Express reported.
However, TNZ Apparels’ cutting operator Shahidul Islam stated that workers would persist with their protests until they receive all owed payments.
The labour secretary noted that he plans to convene another meeting on 8 April after the Eid holidays to address issues concerning the TNZ Group.
TNZ Apparels and The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had not responded to Just Style’s request for comment ahead of going to press.
However, TBS reported that BGMEA has released data suggesting that of the 2,107 active factories, with 1,769 located in the Dhaka area and 338 in Chattogram, nearly all have completed salary disbursements for February.
Specifically, the report noted that 99.53% of these factories have settled February’s wages. For the month of March, 83.20% of factories have issued either partial or complete payments to their workers.
Additionally, ahead of Eid, 94.78% of factories had distributed bonuses to employees. A small fraction, representing 0.47%, are in the process of finalising February’s wage payments. However, there are still 149 factories that need to address outstanding wage payments for March, either partially or in full, the report added.
In February this year, the Government of Bangladesh reportedly resolved to find alternative employment for 40,000 workers affected by Beximco Group factory closures.
