It's quite troubling to see ready-made garment (RMG) workers still protesting over unpaid wages and Eid bonuses. While most people are preparing for celebrations with Eid-ul-Fitr only days away, many workers are being forced to take to the streets. Over the past few days, there have been reports of protests and sit-ins in several areas, including central Dhaka, Gazipur, and Savar. On Tuesday, a clash broke out between police and workers marching from Shram Bhaban towards the Secretariat, leaving dozens injured amid baton charges by police. On Sunday, while staging a sit-in in front of Shram Bhaban, an employee of a factory with 14 months of unpaid wages fell ill and died.

Ideally, under the interim government, one would have expected an end to this almost routine scenario that plays out every Eid. To be fair, this government has done reasonably well compared to previous administrations. The central bank, as per the BGMEA, has already disbursed Tk 2,250 crore in loans to RMG exporters to facilitate payments ahead of Eid. So far, more than 99 percent of factories have reportedly paid February's salaries, while more than 95 percent have paid Eid bonuses. But the fact that some factories have yet to fulfil their financial obligations despite a February 12 decision—that all outstanding wages, bonuses, and dues of workers must be paid by the 20th of Ramadan, along with at least 15 days' salary for March—is a failure as much on their part as on the government's. The issue is not so much its lack of sincerity as its lack of enforcement.

On Tuesday, the government imposed a travel ban on 12 RMG factory owners who defaulted on payments. The ban will be lifted if they can pay owed salaries and bonuses by March 27—a condition that many are unlikely to fulfil. This means many workers of these and other factories will head into the holiday unpaid, deepening their woes. For an industry that generates billions in export revenue, this is unacceptable. After the July uprising, in which a large number of workers participated, many expected that these trends would no longer persist. However, old habits and injustices die hard. Just like before, there is still no institutional mechanism to systematically resolve workers' issues, forcing them to take to the streets repeatedly. And when they do so out of desperation, they are met with assaults and baton charges.

This must change. Factory owners must take responsibility for meeting their obligations on time, and the government must ensure they do so. Factories with a history of frequent wage delays should also be held accountable.