RMG factory closed a day after workers' demonstration for dues

The authorities of TRZ Garments Industry Limited have shut its garment factory in Gazipur's Tongi following a demonstration staged yesterday by its workers and staffers demanding their dues.

The workers and employees saw the closure notice when they went to work at the factory in Gacha area this morning, our local correspondent reports.

Yesterday, around 200 protesters took position on a road in front of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) at Tongi demanding their due salaries and arrears.

Several staffers of the factory, wishing not to be named, said they saw the notice around 6:30am. They heard that the factory would not open before Eid-ul-Fitr.

Wishing anonymity, a worker who was standing outside the factory, said, "My baby is ill, I need money, but don't understand what to do now."

Additional Assistant Superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police Mosharraf Hossain said, "The TRZ factory authorities told me that they paid 75 percent of the salaries for the month of February but could not pay the full amount to the workers. Salary of the staffers remains due for the last four months."

Garment Workers Trade Union Centre (Gazipur District Branch) President Ziaul Kabir Khokon said last night that the factory authorities shut the Tongi factory and hung the closure notice on the gate.

Quoting officials of the factory, the DIFE (Tongi Zone) Inspector Maksudur Rahman said the authorities had requested the staffers to accept partial payment of their salaries. But they did not agree to the request and protested demanding payment of all the dues before Eid.

So, the factory was closed for an indefinite period, he added.

The Daily Star's correspondent tried to contact TRZ Director Mohammad Apu but found his mobile busy.