Authorities have announced the closure of three export-oriented garment factories of DIRD Group from today till 7th July due to workers’ protests in Savar, Dhaka.
The three factories are – Dird Garments Ltd., Dipta Garments Ltd. and Dird Washing Plant Ltd. The closure was announced in a notice signed by the group’s AGM (HR & Compliance) AKM Jasim Uddin on Sunday (25th June).
“Due to unavoidable reasons, all activities of the said factories will be closed from Sunday 25th June 2023 to Friday 7th July 2023 as per Section 12(1) of Bangladesh Labor Act 2006. The date of opening of the factory will be intimated later through notice,” it said.
AKM Jasim Uddin told The Business Standard, “Basically, we are feeling insecure after yesterday’s incident, due to which 3 factories have been declared closed today.”
The official also said workers were being paid their Eid bonuses today.
Meanwhile, the workers of Dipta Garments Ltd. went to Dipta Apparels Ltd., and started an agitation there. At one point, when the workers took position in front of the factory and threw bricks, the police chased the workers away from the spot, law enforcers said.
Inspector (Intelligence) of Industrial Police-1 Mamun told The Business Standard (TBS), “The situation is calm for now. We didn’t even know about the closure of the factory, and when the workers took to the streets, they were chased away. Additional police are also deployed at the spot.”
“After yesterday’s incident, the factory authorities have issued a notice announcing the closure of 3 factories. Later, when the workers came in the morning and saw the notice, they got agitated again and when they tried to create trouble in front of our other factory, Dipta Apparels Ltd., they were chased away by the police. For now, the situation is calm,” Dipta Garments Limited Security inspector Md Asad told TBS.
Yesterday, around 2,000 workers of Dipta Apparels Ltd., a subsidiary of the DIRD Group, took to the road adjacent to the factory located in the south Shyampur area of Hemayetpur, Savar, and started protesting.
