A job in the garment export industry, used to lure thousands of young workers till a few months back. But due to the slowdown and a drop in per unit export prices, the manufacturers have cut down on the wages of the workers.
This has led to unrest amongst the garment workers, most of whom other than spending a portion of the wages on their upkeep, used to send back home a majority of the salary to maintain their families.
To add fuel to the fire, many of these units are not paying the wages on time. A recent survey by a government department indicated that 122 of 825 factories surveyed, did not pay staff on time with eight of them, not even paying the minimum wage.
Growth in the garment export sector has slowed down, since the beginning of the global recessionary trends since last September. Exports of clothing had touched US $11 billion in the last fiscal ending June 2008.
The government on its part is worried that the effects of the labour strikes may have a telling effect on international buyers, which could lead to reduced orders and will do everything in its power to contain the unrest.