National Garments Workers Federation (NGWF), one of the leading labour unions in Bangladesh, celebrated its 34th founding anniversary on Saturday with the promise of continuing its struggle to develop and improve the working environment of garments and textiles factories in the country.
One of the highlights of the celebration was the exhibition on achievements and role played by NGWF to ensure the rights and welfare of the garment workers. The programme kicked off at the BMA Auditorium in Dhaka by paying tributes to the deceased workers of the recent boiler explosion at a garment factory in Gazipur.
From a humble beginning as Dhaka Metropolitan Tailors Workers Union established in 1982 with an aim to establish tailors’ rights, over the years NGWF has turned into one of the biggest platforms of its kind that boasts of housing 61 garment workers’ unions over the last 34 years, under its umbrella.
“We’ve ensured weekly off for almost all garment and textile factory workers in this garment manufacturing hub which was non-existent before 1992; established standard wage scale for 95 per cent of the workers; ensured 4 months’ maternity leave with full wages for the women workers; and on top of all ensured a better working environment for all the workers through hard-fought protests over our 34 years of existence,” maintained Amirul Haque Amin, President of NGWF while addressing the event, adding, “But we’re not satisfied yet. We’ll continue our fight until all the workers get a standard working and living condition. We, the workers, are also the son of this soil like the readymade garment factory owners. If they can enjoy the tax exemptions, cash incentives and many more facilities provided by the Government, what wrong have we done to not get at least a decent standard of living…?”
The Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism of Bangladesh Rashed Khan Menon presided over the proceedings as the chief guest while Sultan Uddin Ahmed, Executive Director of BILS and Dr. Wazedul Islam Khan, Coordinator of SKOP, were amongst the other guests.
