Bepza voiced the warning after it came to know that many workers in DEPZ are still deprived of proper wages according to Bepza rules. Dissatisfaction over wages is the main reason behind the persisting workers' unrest in DEPZ even after factories reopened there on June 8.

According to sources, investors did not raise the wages in the last 17 years. A member of Bangladesh EPZ Investors Association (Bepzia) became furious yesterday when a journalist asked the Bepza executive chairman, during a meeting at the Bepza office, whether the wages in export processing zones (EPZs) were raised in the last 17 years.

The issue of increasing the wages in EPZs has been raised after the government, garment factory owners and workers' leaders signed a 10-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) endorsing the wage commission formed on May 31 that will announce minimum wages for workers of garment factories situated outside EPZs within three months of its formation.

According to sources, wages and salaries in EPZs were fixed 17 years ago with US $20 per month as the minimum salary for a garment worker. The investors kept adjusting the wages with devaluations of taka but did not take any step to increase them.

The Bepza executive chairman yesterday sat with Bepzia leaders to review the situation as workers' demonstrations are still going on in DEPZ. According to sources, most of the units in DEPZ were able to carry out production yesterday.

"We will look after the security issue but the investors have to follow the Bepza instructions regarding wages. Many of the investors are not following the instructions and we will take stern actions against those who are not abiding by the instructions," Brig General Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf, executive chairman of Bepza told the leaders of Bepzia yesterday at the meeting.

Kihak Sung, chairman of Bepzia also chairman of Youngone Group was present at the meeting.

"Youngone can open all its factories now but we will do it in phases," Sung told the meeting but did not mention when all the Youngone units in DEPZ will resume production.

Bepzia leaders however admitted that they are obliged to follow the Bepza instructions.

Meanwhile, production in the factory of A-One (BD) Ltd became uncertain yesterday as workers declined to join work until there demands are met.

Two factories out of the four Youngone Group units resumed operations on Wednesday but the date for reopening of the other two has not been fixed yet. Workers of Paddocks Jeans Ltd were asked to join work from Saturday.

The authorities of DEPZ instructed three persons associated with Redpoint Jackets Ltd not to enter the factory premises until further notice. The banned persons are General Manager Pang Fee Chi, known as Peterson among the workers, Mukhlesur Rahman, who buys waste pieces of garments from the factory to sell outside, and the factory's food supplier. The decision against the three came after protests by factory workers against them on Monday.

Although most of the workers of A-One (BD) Ltd turned out at the factory gate at 7:30am yesterday, they refused to join work finding no notice posted regarding realisation of their demands. The authorities of DEPZ, owners of the factory and workers' representatives negotiated for several hours yesterday but failed to reach a consensus.

"The situation seems bleak but we are working to turn things around. We have opened the factory today but production did not resume," said David Kim, general manager of the factory.

"The factory authorities and workers could not reach any consensus as the demands placed by the workers seemed too much to the owners," said AZM Azizur Rahman, general manager of DEPZ.

"We didn't join work due to absence of any notice regarding whether the factory authorities agreed to meet our demands," said Alamgir, a knitting section worker of the factory.

Meanwhile, the executive chairman of Bepza met the workers of Paddock Jeans Ltd at the factory and asked them to join work assuring them of taking steps as per Bepza rules considering their demands. The factory authorities announced to begin operation tomorrow. Yussuf also visited some other factories.