Sunday, April 28, 2024
In the wake of continued workers’ unrest over minimum wage, 137 readymade garment (RMG) factories in Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur areas have shut down to protect their establishments from acts of violence, which already claimed three lives and injured hundreds of others.
Though many factories will open as soon as the situation is diffused, some will take more time due to being vandalised by agitated protesters.
Speaking to The Business Post on condition of anonymity, an industrial police official said, “Among the closed factories, 78 announced a ‘no work, no pay’ policy under the labour act section 13/1 as their workers refused to work and vandalised factories.
“The rest of the owners announced general leave to protect their factories. We did not receive any information on any big protests organised on Saturday, though some small groups demonstrated in several areas.”
Expressing concerns, industry insiders say their existing work orders will likely get cancelled due to the factory closures, which in turn would force them to rely on costly air freight deliveries.
Moreover, many factories could not continue production during workers’ protests, and they have failed to meet shipment deadlines. Because of this reason, buyers are not placing new orders.
Insiders added due to such issues, RMG industry’s export earnings in November will likely decline. It should be noted that the country has already posted negative earnings in October this year.
On the other hand, leaders of trade unions claimed that the police and owners of factories’ filed at least 29 cases against workers, and the law enforcement agencies arrested over 100 workers. Drives are underway to arrest more accused.
The trade unions plan to file an appeal to the labour ministry as per the labour law to increase workers’ minimum salary. They also announced to continue peaceful protest to meet their Tk 23,000 minimum wage demand.
Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre Vice President Joly Talukder said, “Three more workers have been sent to poison on Saturday.
“We demand a halt on harassment of workers, release of workers from prison, justice for workers who were killed and tortured, and a reasonable increase in workers’ wages.”
Demanding prime minister’s intervention to increase minimum salary, Joly added, “Owners closed factories on the basis of ‘no work, now pay,’ but how many days they would do this as buyers are also pressuring them to ensure shipment on schedule.
“They are [owners] basically doing this to silence workers’ voices and commit harassments using the police. But they have to understand that factories also need workers to run the wheels of production.”
On October 22, readymade garment owners proposed Tk 10,400 as minimum salary instead of existing Tk 8,000 to the RMG wages board. At the time, workers demanded Tk 23,000 and the workers' representative of the board demanded Tk 20,393.
Aggrieved workers rejected the owners’ proposal and started demonstrations from October 23 in the Mirpur, Gazipur, Ashulia and Savar industrial areas. The peaceful demonstration turned into a clash on October 29, as the police tried to disperse them from the streets.
The protest claimed two workers’ lives, two factories and vehicles were torched, and dozens of RMG factories were vandalised in those areas. Owners were forced to close nearly 500 factories to diffuse the situation.
On November 7, State Minister of the Labour and Employment Ministry Monnujan Sufian announced the new wages structure, saying, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina verbally fixed Tk 12,500 as monthly minimum salary for the RMG workers, and made a commitment to issue family cards for workers.”
Trade unions and workers rejected the proposal citing the wage amount insufficient, and announced to continue their protests.
On November 8, thousands of workers came to the street and held massive protests, which turned into clashes yet again. Police fired tear shells, sound grenades, rubber bullets and bullets to scatter agitated workers. A female worker died, and hundreds got injured.
Since that day, most of the factories in Savar, Gazipur, Ashulia and Mirpur areas remained closed.
Industrial Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Md Zakir Hossain Khan told the media on Saturday that 123 readymade garment factories in the Gazipur area were vandalised during the workers’ unrest, and 22 cases were filed in this regard.
“Police arrested 88 people in connection with these cases, and factories in Gazipur and Konabari areas have shut their doors until further notice. The police are trying to track down the people who instigated the workers’ unrest,” he had said.
Garment owners claim that outsiders are agitating the workers and instigating their violent behaviour, seeking to reap political advantage from the issue. Owners add that workers have vandalised the indoors of many factories, and it will take time to repair the damage.
Addressing the issue, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President Shahidullah Azim said, “Over 100 factories announced closure due to the security reasons.”
“We may face order cancellations and costly air freight deliveries. We posted negative export earnings during October and November earnings likely to drop as well. Because some larger factories failed to continue production since the illogical and illegal protests started.”
