Laid off jute workers in dire situation

According to a DS report published yesterday, over 31,000 temporary and substitute jute workers are facing acute economic hardship after losing their jobs following the closure of nine state-owned jute mills in the Khulna-Jashore industrial belt in July, 2020. While many workers, mostly male, are now earning meagre livelihoods by pulling rickshaw-vans, the women workers have no earnings, since they cannot even get jobs as domestic workers due to the pandemic. Although the jute mill authorities promised these workers that they would be paid their due wages within two months, this has only been partially implemented in the last one year. The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has been focusing on paying the arrears of permanent workers, but substitute and temporary workers have been pushed to the back of the list. According to its officials, the arrears of substitute workers roughly amount to Tk 112 crore but there is no estimation for temporary workers yet.