10 worker-friendly knitwear factories rewarded

Kazi Azizul Islam

The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Saturday rewarded top 10 workers-friendly factories as they fully complied with the labour laws.
The labour and employment minister, engineer Mosharraf Hossain handed over the crests and certificates of appreciation to the top executives of the selected factories at a programme on the occasion of May Day.
The factories which were rewarded are Dird Composite Textiles Limited, Four H Fashions Limited, Fakhruddin Textiles Mills Limited, Fakir Apparels Limited, Grameen Knitwear Limited, KC Apparels Limited, Metro Knitting and Dying Mills Limited, Midland Knitwear Limited, Square Fashions Limited and S M Knitwear Limited.
A few weeks ago, the BKMEA had called upon its member factories to apply for the reward. Of more than a thousand BKMEA members, a total of 37 factories applied for the reward.
The president of the BKMEA, Fazlul Hoque told New Age that they had checked whether the factories participating in the event made payment according to rules and in time, and whether they provided legal facilities including justified overtime bills and maternity leave to the workers or not.
‘We have checked whether workers are working in good working conditions and whether legal facilities are being provided to them or not, conducting a survey on the workers of the participating factories,’ said Hoque.
He, however, admitted that in most of the factories there were no trade unions. But there is a workers participatory committee in each of these factories, which is meant for interactions with the factory management, he added.
While handing over the crests and certificates, the minister said workers-friendly environment and good relation between workers and owners helped increase productivity in factories.
‘It also adds values to the business of the factory,’ he said.