Hundreds of garment workers came down to the streets of Rampura’s DIT Road in Dhaka, Bangladesh demanding unpaid wages before what is being said factory shutdown.
About 200-250 workers of Ashiana Garments Industries Ltd. blocked the main road from about 10:30 am on May 31, 2018. From what could be learned, the factory, about to shut down recently, had kept the workers off their payroll for about two months on average. Some even had three months’ wages pending.
According to the garments workers, everyone of who sought anonymity, told Apparel Resources exclusively the factory had declared that it would pay the pending wages today (May 31). Instead, when the workers went to the factory, they found it sealed shut and no authority in.
Proloy Kumar Saha, officer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station, told Apparel Resources that they are trying to take the workers off the street. “From what I have come to know, the factory is shutting down. The authorities have already notified the matter to BGMEA. They were supposed to pay the dues today. But, they are not here and the factory is shut.”
Mohammad Shaheen, managing director of Ashiana Garments Industries, did not pick up the phone when Apparel Resources tried to reach him multiple times.
According to website, Ashiana Garments boasts of monthly production capacity of 150,000 pants and shorts, 150,000 woven boxers, pants and shorts, and 100,000 trousers. In operation since 2007, it says the company has an annual turnover of US $ 9 million.
