Editorial
Tongi garment worker violence
Could it not have been prevented?
SUCH a recurring spectacle, of workers attacking factories and laying siege to roads and halting traffic on the highway is clearly reflective of an ailment in the garments sector that refuses to be cured. In most of these instances it is the grievances of the workers stemming from arrear pay that have led to needless violence.
The latest occurrence was in Tongi where the workers of a garment factory turned violent in protest against the closing down of the factory without previous notice. The situation was further compounded by the fact that the owners resorted to shutting down without paying arrear salary to the workers. As of now there are reports of two deaths and a large number of injured as a result of the violence and the ensuing police firing.
While the workers may have genuine complaints it is inconceivable that they would set upon something that fetches them their livelihood. It is also true that the effect of global recession has had its effect on our garment industry. But that is something that the owners can explain to their workers before taking decision regarding running of the factory. But nothing can justify the closure depriving the workers of their dues.
We are also confused about the role of the BGMEA in this regard. It sounds strange that the BGMEA should be crying foul when there is every reason to believe that among the owners are perhaps the ones that did not play by the rules, and along with the Association are trying to hide behind the allegation of sabotage. While we do not discount the possibility of foul play, we wonder whether the Association has played its part in ensuring that the factory owners did not default on workers payment.
We fully share the police view that the law enforcing agencies should have been apprised of the impending lay off in which case it might have been possible to avert the incident, particularly in view of the fact that the relevant agencies had warned a week back that there might be efforts by some quarters to foment trouble in the garment factories. However, there is certain confusion regarding facts which we call upon the police to clarify. Reportedly, there was a contingent of police at the factory the pervious night. And unlike in previous cases, damage to the factory was averted because of their timely presence at the factory site.
How did the police happen to be there the previous night? Were they alerted by the owners or they acted on their intelligence report. In such an event the statement by the police authority that they were not aware of the lay off and the impending trouble sounds a tad incredible.
We demand a thorough government enquiry into the incident. There are questions that need answers and there are people at fault that need to be taken to task.
Given the unabated unrest in the garments sector and the proven inefficacy of incident by incident handling, there is a felt need to constitute a permanent body whose job it would be to identify vulnerable industries, monitor their situations from time to time and intervene whenever necessary to prevent outbursts.
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