Closed garment factories have opened, workers have returned to work

Garment workers have started returning to work in most garment factories in Savar and Ashulia in Dhaka. They joined the factory at the appointed time on Saturday (September 7) morning.

Around 8 o'clock in the morning on this day, the workers of all the garment factories protested in Narsinghpur, Nishchintpur Jamgara DEPZ, Palashbari, were seen joining the work today.

However, the authorities announced a holiday at two factories around 9 am. Also, there was no news of any disturbance. No untoward incident was reported till 11:30 pm.

It can be seen on the surface, the garment workers have joined their respective workplaces since morning. Production work has started in the factories. Industrial police are deployed in front of the factories for extra security. Besides, several army patrol teams continued to monitor various places in the industrial area.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of Bangladesh Garment and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Center, said that the workers have joined the work in the factories since morning. No untoward incident has been reported so far.

Superintendent of Police of Industrial Zone Police-1 in Ashulia Mohammad Sarwar Alam said that most of the factories in Ashulia have started working on schedule today. Sharmin Garments and Anant Garments are closed. But the situation is normal.

It is to be noted that the factory production has been disrupted due to worker dissatisfaction in the industrial area for several consecutive days. The workers protested by blocking Nabinagar-Chandra highway and Ashulia-DEPJet-Abdullahpur road with various demands. Common people have suffered.

Meanwhile, additional policemen have been deployed in front of the factories to avoid any untoward incident in the industrial area. Apart from this, there are army patrols in industrial areas.

For the past few days, labor dissatisfaction has arisen in the Ashulia industrial area in the face of the movement of job seekers and workers of some factories. When the situation worsened, the owners were forced to declare holidays in several factories.

A two-phase meeting was held at the BGMEA office on Friday regarding the ongoing unrest in Ashulia garment factories. This is the decision to open the factory. After that meeting, the senior vice president of BGMEA, Abdullah Hill Rakib, said that the labor leaders called upon the ordinary workers to return to work. If there is any claim, the owner is asked to give it in writing.

Bangladesh /OF