Workers Walk Out of 529 Factories in Labour Unrest, Nearly 1 Million Stay Away from Work

Workers have walked out of 529 factories across the country's industrial zones due to labour unrest. Nearly 987,000 workers of these factories did not join work. The biggest impact has fallen on the Gazipur, Mymensingh, Savar and Ashulia industrial areas. Labour unrest also occurred in Mirpur in the capital's DMP area.

The figures emerged in statistics available as of 3:30pm on Sunday (1 November). The statistics covered a total of 2,134 factories in the country's five main industrial zones.

According to the statistics, of the 529 factories closed due to labour unrest, 276 are in the Gazipur and Mymensingh area, 185 in the Savar-Ashulia and Jirani area, and 68 in the DMP area. The closed factories in the DMP area are located in Mirpur.

By area, the Gazipur and Mymensingh region has a total of 836 factories. Workers walked out of 276 of them, and 645,360 workers of those factories did not join work.

The Savar-Ashulia and Jirani area has a total of 441 factories. Workers walked out of 185 of them, and 290,205 workers in the region did not join work.

Of the 320 factories in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) area, workers walked out of 68 factories. Among the workers of those factories, 51,625 did not join work.

On the other hand, the statistics include 197 factories in Narayanganj and 340 in Chattogram. No incident of workers walking out of factories or not joining work was mentioned in those areas.

In Ashulia, the picture was even clearer. Widespread worker unrest spread in the Ashulia industrial area of Savar over the demand to set the monthly minimum wage at 30,000 taka. Faced with the anger of the protesting garment workers, authorities declared a general holiday in at least 50 factories in Ashulia. Ashulia Industrial Police-1 Superintendent of Police Mominul Islam Bhuiyan confirmed the factory closure information on Sunday noon.

According to relevant sources, in the morning, workers of Al-Muslim, Trouser Line and New Age factories in Ashulia's Nischintapur area entered their workplaces, stopped production and began a work abstention. Later, when they came out of the factories and demonstrated on the road, workers of other nearby garment factories also joined the movement in solidarity.

Around 12 noon, when protesters blocked the road in front of Ananta Garments in Ashulia's Narsinghpur area, police tried to remove them. A chase and counter-chase took place between police and workers at the time, but no casualties were immediately reported.

The protesters' main demands include raising the minimum wage to 30,000 taka, preventing layoffs without cause, and immediately stopping the practice of blacklisting workers by making lists. Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweater Workers Trade Union Centre, said workers had taken to the streets angered mainly over these three demands. Although a wage board has been formed, workers of various factories have taken to the streets expecting the demands to be implemented quickly.

Ashulia Industrial Police-1 Superintendent Mominul Islam Bhuiyan said workers had been demonstrating since morning, stopping work. A general holiday was declared in at least 50 factories to prevent the situation from deteriorating, and law enforcement agencies were active to keep the overall environment under control.

The walkouts and absences across the industrial zones have raised fears of major disruption to production activities. With a huge number of workers absent in important industrial areas such as Gazipur, Mymensingh, Savar and Ashulia, production and supply systems could be affected.