147 garment factories announced closed

The owners have announced the indefinite closure of 147 readymade garment factories due to continued worker unrest and disorder. At the same time, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has threatened to boycott the minimum wage board discussions if the situation does not improve.

BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan made this announcement at an emergency press conference held at the BGMEA office in Uttara of the capital today, Saturday. Earlier, they held a meeting with members of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) regarding the situation that had arisen.

At the press conference, the BGMEA president said, "Wage discussions and vandalism and disorder in factories at the same time—these two cannot go together."

Claiming that the vast majority of workers and owners are ready to go to work, he said, "Some misguided workers are regularly creating disorder. They are not working themselves, nor are they letting others join work. They punch their attendance cards and leave the factory, and in groups they are also bringing out workers from other factories. As a result, we are being forced to keep 147 factories closed."

He remarked that under such circumstances, it is not possible for BGMEA and BKMEA to participate in the minimum wage board and continue normal work.

Criticizing the workers' federations, Mahmud Hasan Khan said, "The role of the workers' federations in overcoming this crisis was not appropriate. They cannot control the workers at the field level. The owners have said that from this moment, if factory security is not ensured, it will not be appropriate to have representation on the wage board."

He further said, "Due to the ongoing unrest, production activities have been disrupted, and factories in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur will remain closed. We hope the government will quickly normalize the law and order situation."

The government reconstituted the minimum wage board on November 1 amid the movement by readymade garment workers. At the board's second meeting last Monday, representatives of the workers' side submitted a written proposal to set the minimum wage at Tk 32,000. However, even though the board's formal activities continued, tension did not subside in the industrial areas.

According to BGMEA's latest figures, production was massively disrupted at a total of 156 garment factories in Savar, Ashulia, and Gazipur last Wednesday. Of these, 140 factories were affected in the Savar-Ashulia area alone.

Meanwhile, workers staged repeated protests throughout the day on Wednesday in Savar-Ashulia, demanding a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 and an end to retrenchment. At one point, when the protesters tried to block the highway, there were chase and counter-chase clashes with the police. During this time, police fired tear gas shells and sound grenades. Tension spread across the industrial areas due to these incidents.