Nine export-oriented readymade garment factories, mostly located in Dhaka and Chattogram Export Processing Zone areas, have been closed for an indefinite period following worker unrest.
The nine factories--Gunze United Limited, Experience Clothing Company Ltd, Queen South, Ring Shine, Bengal Plastic, Agami Apparels, Styrax Fashion, Paddock's Jeans and Moonlight Garments--were closed as per Section 13/1 of Labour Act.
It meant that the workers would not be entitled to receive salary during the factory closure.
Among the factories, Agami Apparels has remained closed since January 8 while three others--Styrax Fashion, Paddock's Jeans and Moonlight Garments--since January 13. The rest of the factories shut on January 15.
BGMEA sources said that most of the closed factories are located in Dhaka and Chattogram Export Processing Zone areas.
Agami Apparels, an Ashulia-based readymade garment factory, has sacked 153 workers, and planned to take legal action against them, but the owner is yet to pay December wages to them.
Moonlight Garments and Agami Apparels in their notice said that they halted production due to ‘illegal’ workers’ unrest over the new wage structure and attack on officials, but Styrax Fashion and Paddock's Jeans didn’t give any reasons for the closure.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan, however, confirmed that all the factories had to shut production for an indefinite period due to workers’ unrest.
Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati President Taslima Akhter said that the implementation of labour act’s section 13/1 is not a solution and both the workers and owners will be loser from this.
“So far I know that the salary of many factory workers has not increased equally and many also did not get promotion on time. That is why workers are staging protests in several factories. Owners should meet the workers’ demand taking rising inflation into account.”
On October 23 last year, workers began protests seeking an increase in minimum wage to Tk 23,000 to help them cope with skyrocketing inflation. The demonstrations soon turned violent, and continued till November 12.
During unrest, at least four workers were killed, and over a hundred got injured while 26 factories were vandalised, and two were torched. Factory owners and police filed 43 cases against workers and trade union leaders, and 115 workers were sent to prison.
To tackle the situation, over a hundred factories were forced to close, and as the situation cooled down following police action, most of the closed factories resumed production since November 15.
The government set Tk 12,500 as minimum monthly salary for RMG workers which took effect since December 1, though trade unions rejected this, citing insufficient and announced its decision to continue protests peacefully.
The US Department of State, other major global stakeholders, as well as apparel sector brands condemned “violence” against garment workers in Bangladesh who are demonstrating for an increase in the minimum wage.
These stakeholders asked the government to ensure a decent wage for nearly 4 million RMG workers.
According to BGMEA, factories and worker sources, many senior [in terms of experience] operators, who were on grade 5 in the previous grading system, which converted to grade 3 as per new wage structure, expected that they will be promoted to grade 2.
But when the factory authority issued December pay slips, these workers found that they are yet to get promoted, which disappointed them. The workers observed a work abstention inside the factory, which turned into a scuffle at least two garments.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, “Some workers of these factories did not accept the new wage structure and protested. They observed illegal unrest. When the factories officials tried to convince them, the workers had scuffled with the factories authorities and officials.”
“We accepted the new wage structure amid the bad business situation. If any workers believed that the new wage is not enough to them, they can leave the factories to find out a better job. But no one has rights to involved scuffle, and observes illegal demonstration inside the factories.
“In this circumstance, we [BGMEA] asked members to follow the labour act to ensure factories’ safety,” he added.
