Labour Unrest in Ashulia: Garment factories reopen today
The 59 Ashulia-based garment factories reopen today after remaining closed for over two weeks following labour unrest.
Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), announced the decision at a press conference at the association's office yesterday.
“In a written statement, 30 workers' associations requested us to reopen the factories as soon as possible. The workers at the factories have also been making the same request.
“Because of the requests and also because of a directive from the prime minister, we decided to reopen the factories tomorrow [Monday],” Siddiqur said.
The workers of factories started work abstention on December 11 demanding their minimum monthly wage be increased to Tk 16,000 from Tk 5,300.
Later, the factory managements decided to shut down their units fearing a massive labour unrest and spillover of the demonstrations at the neighbouring factories.
Replying to journalists' queries, Siddiqur said the factory managements shut down their units as per labour law's 13(1) provision that says “no work no pay”.
After the reopening of the factories, the managements will follow the same provision under which the workers might not receive their pays for the days the factories remained closed, he said.
About the cases filed against the workers, Siddiqur said those would be handled under the law of the country.
On the workers who have been terminated during the unrest, the BGMEA chief said the respective management of the factory would make the final decision in this regard.
When asked, he could not instantly say the exact amount of losses the factories incurred due to the closure.
Talking about the workers' problems, he said if any house owner in Ashulia area increases house rent in the next three years, local workers can complain about the matter to the nearby police station or local union parishad chairman or any local public representative.
The workers can also make complaints to the BGMEA office as there is a hotline, he said.
Ashulia is considered one of the important industrial hubs and it is home to most compliant and large factories. The factories there mostly supply high-end products to upscale customers.
More than 350 factories are located in the area and their contribution in FY2015-16 was over 20 percent of the $28 billion garment export, according to industry insiders.
Earlier, a factory owner had told The Daily Star that over 1.5 lakh workers were in trouble following the closure of the factories in Ashulia.
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