After security measures were reinforced in response to worker unrest, nearly all of the approximately 407 garment factories located in the Ashulia district under Savar upazila and the Zirabo and Zirani sectors under Gazipur were operating on Sunday.
About fifteen factories were shut down by the owners, who also announced that they would be implementing a “no work, no pay” labour regulation.
A total of 1,863 industrial factories are under the jurisdiction of Industrial Police-1, of which 1,400 are operating normally, while the remaining are closed due to the public holiday today (16th September).
Workers at a number of the plants have been staging protests for more than 15 days in opposition to a range of benefits and allowances, such as higher nighttime allowances, tiffin bills, attendance bonuses, and incentives for hitting output objectives.
Additionally, they urge the industrial authorities to implement a four-month maternity leave and offer light employment to expectant mothers throughout the fifth month of their pregnancy.
Other demands are that senior officials promise not to use harsh language in factories and that plant administrators stop terminating workers arbitrarily. They also seek the payment of benefits required by law in the event of an employee’s resignation.
There were no negative incidents reported on Sunday.
The president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, told The Daily Star over the phone, “I am hopeful that the factories that remained shut will reopen from Monday.”
“Normalcy has been restored with improvements in law and order with the deployment of more police and army personnel,” he stated.
Islam claims that labour leaders and law enforcement are in talks to reopen the industries that have lost output over the last two months as a result of the student movement against discrimination and the accompanying labour unrest.
The BGMEA has assessed the amount of business lost during both periods.
He said, “Many factory owners will have to offer discounts and deal with order cancellations and costly air shipments.”
The Bangladesh Apparel Workers’ Federation president, Md. Towhidur Rahman, stated that production is continuing and that normalcy has been restored in the garment factories.
He went on to say that factory owners have to honor their promises to employees during the labor turmoil.
The National Garment Workers Federation’s president, Amirul Haque Amin, concurred.
“It is business as usual at the industrial zone,” he stated.
