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A tripartite meeting of the stakeholders on Thursday could not reach a consensus on the payment of festival allowance to readymade garment (RMG) workers ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr.
At the meeting, the garment factory owners proposed that they would pay 50 per cent of the basic pay as festival allowance to workers, sources said.
Labour leaders, however, opposed the proposal and demanded full basic pay as the festival allowance, they added.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) placed the proposal at the meeting held at Shrama Bhavan in the city with state minister for labour Monnujan Sufian in the chair.
The apparel makers told the meeting that they would not be able to pay 100 per cent of festival allowances due to the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, a tripartite meeting decided that garment factories that remained closed during public holidays would pay 60 per cent of workers' gross wages for April and the remaining five per cent would be adjusted with wages for the following month.
The state minister, however, urged the factory owners to pay festival allowances equivalent to one month's basic pay to the workers, meeting sources said.
Secretary General of InustriALL Bangladesh Council China Rahman said the garment factory owners at the meeting agreed to pay 50 per cent of the basic pays as festival allowances.
"But we opposed their proposal and demanded full and lawful festival allowances," she said.
Labour leaders said workers would not accept any cut in the amount of festival allowance after the deduction in April wages.
They warned that workers might come out to the street if the factory owners try to reduce the amount of their festival allowance.