A group of high profile speakers found lack of trust and poor relations between management and workers and absence of trade union activities as the prime reasons behind spreading intentional rumours in the country’s garment factories which very often lead to violent unrest, clashes, murders and vandalism. The speakers at a consultative meeting on Tuesday made this observation, stressing the need for holding frequent meetings between workers and management and urged entrepreneurs to undertake some awareness programmes which they said would help to mitigate the problems to a great extent.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) convened the emergency meeting with stakeholders to find out ways and means to solve the problem of hearsay and taking preemptive actions to halt destructive activities.  Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, who attended the meeting as special guest also urged the owners of garment industries to allow trade union activities, in whatever form it may be.
“We can start it at Hamim groups,” said the minister.
Posing a question to the owner of Hamim Group who is incumbent FBCCI President AK Azad, the minister said, “Why your industry being hit repeatedly? Find out the reasons. We will apply medicine there.”
He also stressed the need for a complaint box at every floor of factories where workers can lodge their complaints. He also asked the industrial police to develop skill of their intelligence units.
The FBCCI president AK Azad urged the minister to form a tripartite committee – between owners, workers and government – to look into the issue and requested him to hold at least two meetings immediately one at Ashulia, the hotbed of garment unrest and another at Kantchpur.
He, however, underscored the need for training of garment work forces for development of their skills and expertise as well as behavioral excellence. “Definitely you will enjoy the rights for Trade Unionism. But you have to undergo a proper training and we will bear the expenses,” said the FBCCI chief AK Azad.
The BGMEA president Shafiul Islam in his speech expressed concerns over the propaganda on various issues, saying that a 'vested quarter' is trying to incite troubles in the industry with a view to destroy the industry. Sometimes, some news is being published in foreign newspaper without proper facts and figures just immediate after an untoward incident, said Islam.  He alleged that the conspiracy has ensued at a time when the sector is passing through a critical time due to falling exports caused largely by the global financial turmoil.
Garment industry is regarded as the backbone of Bangladesh economy, which earned $17.91 billion from export receipts during the last fiscal, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the country's exports revenue.
Speakers at the meeting opined that a vested interest group at home and abroad is trying to manipulate the existing good relationship between the workers and employers of the sector and urged the government to find out the culprits.
Most of the trade union leaders, however, blamed the industry management for inviting the untoward incidents as they ‘behave rough’ with workers. “Soft handling of the issues solves many of the problems,” said a workers representative, demanding proper training for mid level management personnel. Factories themselves can also train workers at the workplaces on ‘behaviour and crisis management’, said another trade union leader.
Presided over by BGMEA president Shafiul Islam, the meeting was addressed among others by Labour and Employment minister Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Israfil Alam MP, Labour ministry Parliamentary Standing Committee chairman Israfil Alam, labour and employment secretary, Director General of Industrial Police Abdus Salam, BKMEA Vice president Mohammad Hatem and trade union leaders Monto Ghosh, Amirul Haque Amir, Romesh Chandra, Leena Ferdoushi, Babul Akhtar,
Kamrul Anam, Abul Hossain, Tawhidur Rahman, Kamrul Hasan, Siddiqur Rahman and advocate Delwar Hossain.