19 garment factories still closed in Ashulia

Some 19 garment factories in Savar are still closed today, Tuesday and of them, 15 are closed for an indefinite period.

Although workers showed up in the other four factories, they left later. Besides, three factories are still closed in Gazipur.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) authorities disclosed this in a report published on Tuesday saying of the 272 garment factories in Savar, 253 have resumed production. Some 15 factories are closed under the Section 13 (1) of the Labour Act.

The factories which are still closed include Mascot Garments, Mascot Knits, Mascot Fashions, Radiance Jeans, Radiance Fashion, Scandex, Hamza Clothing, RK Knit, Sun Apparels, Tech Max, Shin Shin Apparels, Pearl Garments, Generation Next, Europa and Susuka Knits.

Apart from these, factories of Radiance Knitwear, S-21 Apparels, Compfit Composite (Unit-2) and Southern Garments declared closure after resuming operations.

The BGMEA report further states 260 factories have cleared the salary and allowances for the month of August. In all, some 94.31 per cent of the factories under the BGMEA have cleared all the dues up to August.

The readymade garment (RMG) industry is in turmoil as a result of continuous workers’ protests in Gazipur and Ashulia of Savar over the last few weeks to press different demands.

In the wake of the protest, the owners decided to raise the attendance bonus by Tk 225, increased tiffin bills, ensure equal rights for men and women and cancelled the provision of blacklisting workers. After that, the situation improved quite a bit this week.

However, a female worker was killed in a clash between two groups of workers in the Zirabo area of Ashulia. He was a sewing operator at the Mascot Garments.

Speaking regarding this, BGMEA director Mohiuddin Rubel told Prothom Alo, the law enforcement brought the situation under control after that unwarranted incident.

Asked about the reasons behind some factories still remaining closed, he said, “Most of the factories were shut down amid the unrest prevailing in the sector over the past few weeks. Some of the owners feel opening the factories right now could trigger further problems. They want to observe the situation thoroughly before resuming production.”