250 workers left jobless demonstrate to reopen Ashulia factory

Garments workers of a factory today demonstrated in front of their unit in Ashulia demanding reinstatement of their jobs and reopening of the factory.

Around 250 workers of Vatican Knitwear Ltd in Ashulia's Jamgora area took to the streets around 11:00am.

The workers claimed that the authority concerned had informed them through text messages that the factory would not open and they should look for jobs elsewhere.

Earlier, the factory authority had declared to shut the unit on March 25 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the demonstrators said, adding the wages for that month had been paid on April 20, after which they all got the text message of their dismissal.

Megha Akter, a protestor, said they were demonstrating against the factory's decisions, and were demanding that the factory be reopened and their jobs reinstated.

"If we lose our jobs now, we won't be able to get work elsewhere," she said.

Sarowar Hossen, a local worker leader, told The Daily Star that if any owner wanted to shut their factory permanently, then the proper labour laws would have to be followed.

In this case, for the factory to close, three months' wages have to be paid to permanent employees, he said.

This was not done by the factory authority, workers claimed.

Foyez Uddin, production manager of the factory, told The Daily Star that the factory was a subcontractor with 300 workers and staffers.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak and shortage of work order, the owner had decided to shut down the factory, he said.

The Daily Star tried to reach factory owner Foysal over phone, but it was found switched off.

Jane Alam Khan, assistant superintendent of Dhaka Industrial Police, said they were trying to resolve the matter and contact the factory owner.

To avert any untoward incident additional police have been deployed in the area, he added.