With a section of workers demonstrating for salary hike for the last 11 days in Ashulia, garment factory owners are losing money hand over fist due to their factories being closed.Factories in Ashulia, a major hub of most compliant and large garment factories, supply high-end items to the upscale customers.So far, the owners have shut down production in 60 factories in Ashulia fearing spill over of the unrest in nearby factories, according to industry insiders. BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman said the owners were losing Tk 100 crore a day due to the closures. Police yesterday detained Moshrefa Mishu, president of Garments Workers Unity Forum, just before she was to hold a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club to demand reopening of the factories in Ashulia and to stop the workers’ job terminations and repression. She was released around 6:00pm.Mishu told The Daily Star that a police officer had told her that she was under arrest. “Why did they pick me up this way if they really wanted to talk,” she said, adding that she was not even given the scope to notify her sister. “I was told by the police to refrain from waging the movement as the agitation might give militants opportunities,” said Mishu. She said, “By asking me to refrain from the movement, they wanted to take away my constitutional and democratic rights.”She demanded the authorities withdraw cases against workers, release detained representatives and reopen factories in Ashulia. She also urged the government form a wage board soon to fix Tk 10,000 as minimum basic salary for workers. Police arrested Savar upazila vice-chairman and BNP leader Mini Akter Urmi yesterday for her alleged involvement in the instigation of the workers, reports our Savar correspondent. Officer-in-Charge of the Detective Branch of police (Dhaka North) AFM Syed said she was arrested at Nabinagar around 10:00am following a case filed by Ashulia police against her.The managements of two factories in Ashulia sacked 135 workers yesterday. So far,256 workers of different factories have been fired for their alleged involvement in the unrest. Ha-Meem Group filed a case against two more apparel workers and 500 unknown people Wednesday night, according to our Savar correspondent. “The production capacity of my three units in Ashulia is 40,000 shirts a day. The production has been stopped for the last 11 days. This is a huge loss for me,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Group, a leading garment group. More than 5,500 workers are employed in the three units, he said. This is the peak season for garment production, but the factories are closed, he said. The closure of factories would have an impact on the company’s exports, he said. “My buyers are asking about the latest situation of production. The factories have been closed over the last 11 days. The buyers are worried about the situation,” Murshedy saidThere are more than 350 garment factories in Ashulia, he said. Most of the factories comply with set standards and pay wages regularly.Murshedy blamed a vested quarter for the unrest and claimed that most of the workers were interested in working.Echoing Murshedy, Managing Director Atiqul Islam of Islam Group said every day he was losing money due to the work abstention by workers. His factories have a production capacity of 70,000 pieces a day. “We will reopen our factories, but we need a peaceful working environment and security,” Atiqul said. The agitating workers might vandalise the factories if the owners reopened the factories now, he said.He also said leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) would decide on this soon.The buyers demand timely shipment of goods, he said, adding that this forces apparel exporters to opt for expensive air shipments to make up the lost time, he said. The cost of sending one kg of clothes to Europe by sea is less than three cents but by air it is around $2, he said. Sirajul Islam Rony, the workers’ representative in the wage board for garment workers, said the current unrest was not logical. We have been observing the situation over the last few days. A section of people have been misguiding the workers with wrong information,” Rony said. The unrest began when a section of workers started distributing leaflets with incorrect information, he claimed.Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garments Sramik Federation, a rights group, said a vested quarter has been instigating the workers. Now the vested quarter has lost control over the workers, she claimed.“I am urging the owners to reopen the factories as we have room for discussion to solve the issue,” she said.Abdus Salam, director general of the industrial police department said majority of the workers do not support the unrest. A total of seven workers were arrested until Wednesday, Salam told The Daily Star over phone.Additional law enforcers have been deployed in Ashulia. The workers did not demonstrate yesterday, Salam said.Many workers went to work yesterday but returned home as the factories were closed, he said.
