Gazipur: 10,000 workers stage work absentia over sacked peers

Around 10,000 garment workers of two factories in Gazipur's Konabari today staged a work absentia demanding the reinstatement of their sacked collegues.

Workers of MM Knitwear Ltd and Mamun Knitwear Ltd in the Konabari area went on a strike around noon.

Later, when the factory authorities declared a general holiday, the workers stopped work and stayed inside the factory.

According to sources, the workers stopped work on November 3 with some demands. Although the authorities accepted some of the demands, the workers refrained from joining work.

Later, the authorities suspended all activities of the factory indefinitely from November 4 in accordance with section 13 (1) of the Labour Act, 2006 for the sake of safety of the factory.

On November 9, the authorities terminated 68 workers from MM Knitwear Ltd and 45 from Mamun Knitwear Ltd for creating chaos under the Labour Act.

The workers joined work on November 9.

On the condition of anonymity, a worker said, "Earlier, the owner said no workers would be terminated. But they did sack our collogues. We have stopped working protesting the sacking."

Monowar Hossain, administrative officer of MM Knitwear Limited, said the workers who were terminated as per the labour law and their dues have been paid.

Meanwhile, workers of two more factories staged protests demanding arrears and allowances.

Workers at Swadhin Garments in Konabari Jarun area have been protesting for three days demanding arrears of wages for the last one month. They are abstaining from work and staying in front of the main gate of the factory, reports our correspondent.

Besides, the workers of Konabari Baimail Kashem Lamps factory have been demonstrating for two days over ten demands, including attendance bonus, tiffin bill and night allowance.

At 6:45pm today, Assistant Superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police Mosharraf Hossain told The Daily Star that the authorities have closed 14 garment factories in Gazipur.

Of the 14 factories declared closed, five were from TNZ, four from Konabari and five more from Konabari due to various reasons, he said.