With labour unrest continuing for nine days, 55 Ashulia-based garment factories were shut down yesterday apparently to prevent a spillover of agitation to neighbouring units. The closure was announced at a hurriedly called press conference at the office of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). The owners closed down their units for an indefinite period as per provision 13(1) of the labour law which provides for “no work, no pay”, said BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman at the press conference.Considered one of the important industrial hubs, Ashulia houses most of the compliant and bigger factories. The factories here 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. A factory owner said over 1.5 lakh workers will be in trouble following the closure of the 55 units.“Three of my factories have been shut down due to the unrest. More than 12,000 workers are employed in the three units,” he said, asking not to be named. “Local politics is involved in this unrest as some vested quarters have some small business with the factories. ”The exporter also said, “The closure will affect the jobs of the workers as many owners will not be able to pay them timely. The agitations usually take place in the peak hour of production. ”Closure of such a good number of well-run factories means loss of millions of dollars. The garment makers will face work order cancellation, expensive air shipments and price reduction from the international retailers due to the unrest.
It will have damaging impacts on export, he added. Another owner who shut down his units said, “I am worried as my retailers have already asked me whether I would be able to ship the goods timely or not. If I want to maintain a warm business relation with my retailers I have to send the goods timely, which means I have to choose expensive air shipments. ”Amirul Haque Amin, president of National Garment Workers Federation, said the current labour unrest at Ashulia is illegitimate. “If the workers have any demand, they can talk to the government, the owners and other stakeholders in a formal way.”The demand for salary hike deserves discussion with the government, owners and union leaders, he said. Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, assistant executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said fixing reasonable salaries for workers is a constitutional responsibility of the government. “The government should fix the salaries for the workers through consultation.” BGMEA’s Siddiqur Rahman said, “The owners of some factories at Ashulia were bound to announce the closure due to the continued labour unrest. Workers will not be paid for nine days as they were absent from their workplaces. ”The factory owners, some ministers and BGMEA leaders have been trying to resolve the crisis over the last few days, but the workers did not go back to their workplaces despite repeated commitments.“Finally, we shut down our factories following the rules of the country. The workers have to follow the law of the land and they cannot demonstrate for some illogical demands,” said the BGMEA boss.Garment workers of Ashulia have been observing work abstention demanding a fresh hike of salaries, end to firing of workers and realising of arrears. The BGMEA chief trashed the charter of demands, saying the outsiders have been instigating the agitation. “Their demands are not logical. ”The unrest has been taking place only at Ashulia, not in the factories in other areas, he said. The number of garment factories in operation across the country is more than 4,000. He said there is no scope for a fresh wage commission for the garment workers as only three years passed since the last commission was formed. Under the labour law, fresh minimum wage commission is to be formed every five years. He also refuted the allegation of firing workers.Siddiqur Rahman said some workers are trying to say that they have been demonstrating as owners have not been paying their salaries over the last three months. “This is absolutely false as we have the mechanism of realising the arrear of workers,” he said. If any worker is not paid for any period, he can contact the BGMEA arbitration cell and claim the arrears.He called upon the workers to join work as soon as possible and not to pay heed to any outsiders. If the owners cannot run their factories they will lose competitiveness and finally they might not be able to pay wage to workers.Around 9:30am yesterday, thousands of agitating workers of several factories blocked Dhaka-Tangail highway in Jamgorah area. After half an hour, police charged batons and fired teargas shells to disperse the workers. At least five workers were injured in police action, our Savar correspondent reports.Director of Industrial Police-1 Mostafizur Rahman said they dispersed the workers who tried to block Dhaka-Tangail highway. Additional forces were deployed in the area to avoid untoward incidents, said the official. At an emergency press conference yesterday, Mujibul Haque, state minister for labour and employment, called upon the workers to go back to work as early as possible to avoid any legal harassment. “Their demand is unfair,” the minister said, urging the workers to contact him if they have any legal demand.We have been requesting the workers to go back to work. If workers do not follow the request of the government, legal actions would be taken against them. ”He ruled out the possibility of the formation of any fresh wage commission right at this moment. The minister said the house owners of Ashulia area will not hike the house rent for the garment workers’ convenience. He claimed a vested quarter at home and abroad is conspiring to destroy the garment sector.
