5 more RMG factories shut

At least five more garment factories were shut yesterday in the face of labour unrest in Ashulia, raising the number of closed factories to 60.

The factory owners are suffering a loss of Tk 100 crore a day due to the temporary closure, according to the BGMEA.

Considered one of the important industrial hubs, Ashulia, on the outskirts of the capital, saw labour protests over the demand for wage hike for the last few days.  More than 350 garment factories are located in the area.

Officials of two closed factories -- Windy Appeals Ltd and Fountain Garments -- yesterday filed two cases with Ashulia Police Station against 239 workers, 39 named and 200 unnamed, for looting and vandalising the factories, Mohsinul Kadir, officer-in-charge of the station, told journalists.

Police arrested two workers of Windy Apparels Ltd.

Talking to The Daily Star, State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu said, “We don't know the motive behind the unrest, as neither the labour leaders nor any workers' organisation made any demand to the government or the authorities concerned.”

Different intelligence agencies have been trying to find out “the reasons” and the persons behind the unrest, he said, adding that someone definitely misguided the workers to go for demonstrations.

Asked, the minister said they were still unsure how to resolve the crisis.

“Let's see,” he told The Daily Star.

Contacted, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, “We have been informed that more and more factories are being shut every day because of the unrest.”

He further said they were trying to find out “the reasons” and the people involved in the unrest that began on December 12 at seven RMG factories in Ashulia.

“We are also looking into whether there is any ulterior motive behind it.”

Asked about the solution to the crisis, he said this also depends on the relationship between the owners and the workers of the factories.

“We will ensure law and order at the RMG factories and also protection of public property.”

Mostafizur Rahman, director of Dhaka Industrial Police, said at least 59 RMG factories were closed in Ashulia till yesterday afternoon.

Around 9:00am, a group of agitating workers tried to block Dhaka-Tangail highway in Narasinghapur area, but police foiled the bid, he said.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said he would soon sit with the BGMEA leaders to discuss the workers unrest.

Shajahan, also convener of Garment Workers' Coordination Council, was speaking at a meeting with the representatives of Ashulia garment workers at the capital's Segunbagicha.

Urging them to foil conspiracies at home and abroad to destroy the sector, he asked the agitating workers to go back to work and place their demands before the government and the owners following due procedures. 

On Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed the ministries concerned to find out the causes of the labour unrest and take effective measurers to end it.

The directive came during an unscheduled discussion at the weekly cabinet meeting.

The PM wondered why labour unrest occurs in the RMG sector at this period of time every year. She mentioned that her government had already increased wages of garment workers, according to meeting sources. 

BGMEA WORRIED

Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the factory owners are incurring a loss of Tk 100 crore a day.

“This is direct production loss. The indirect loss would be bigger,” he said.

The garment makers would have to pay for expensive air shipment to meet the deadline for sending apparel items to retailers. They may have to give discounts to retailers and even face cancellation of work orders, he said.

According to industry insiders, expensive air shipment increases the export costs substantially.  For example, if clothes weighing a kilogram are sent to a destination in Europe by sea, it would cost less than three cents. But if the products are sent to the same destination by air, the shipment cost would be around $2.

“We want to reopen our factories. We want to sit with the government in this regard. But the agitating workers are not keeping their promise to return to work,” Rahman said.

Meanwhile, the management of Windy Apparels Ltd suspended 121 workers from job over their alleged involvement in the labour unrest.

With a list of the workers and their photographs, a notice was hung at the factory gate in Ashulia's Jamgora area.

Yesterday morning, many of the workers of the closed factories went to their workplaces but found the main gates shut.

EXTRA SECURITY IN ASHULIA

A large number of Rab, BGB and police personnel had been deployed in the industrial belt since morning to ward off any untoward incident, said Shah Mizan Shafiur Rahman, superintendent of police in Dhaka district.

Fazlur Rahman, assistant director of 48 Battalion of Border Guard Bangladesh, said 

15 BGB platoons have been deployed in the area.