Closed garment factories will reopen very soon, home minister says as Ashulia protests enter fourth day

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the closed garment factories will be reopened very soon. He made the remark on Tuesday (3 November) in reply to reporters' questions after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Land Ministry at the Secretariat. The minister's statement came on the day the garment workers' movement in Ashulia entered its fourth day.

The home minister said he hopes measures will be taken to open them very soon. He said some miscreants may want to carry out attacks, because the government has fulfilled the demands the workers had. He noted that a wage board has been formed and they have been satisfied.

The minister said talks were held on Monday with almost all labour leaders — the labour organisation leaders related to garments and knitwear and the BKMEA. Talks were also held with the owners' side and everyone is satisfied. The board formed to fix the minimum wage has now started its work.

Salahuddin Ahmed said the workers' side will bargain in that board. He said the government has also called for the minimum wage to be fixed in the way most supportive of workers and helpful for improving their living standards, keeping that in view. Those discussions will take place there. But he added that there is now no opportunity to create any unrest.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the workers' movement in Ashulia could not be stopped even after the announcement of the wage board's formation. The industrial area heated up for the fourth day over three-point demands including fixing the minimum wage at 30,000 taka. From the morning there were workers' protests in the Nischintapur-Narsinghpur area, attempts to blockade roads and repeated chase and counter-chase with police.

Speaking to workers, industrial police and labour leaders, it was learned that on Tuesday morning workers went to the factories on time and gave attendance. Then they stopped work and began protesting for their demands. When holidays were declared at the Ha-Meem Group in Narsinghpur and the NewAge factory in Nischintapur, the workers came out. Later they gathered on the Abdullahpur-Baipail road and tried to blockade it. When police obstructed them, chase and counter-chase began between the two sides. When police fired tear gas, workers threw brickbats. Workers protested by burning tyres on the road.

An industrial police official said that from after 8am until 11am, chase and counter-chase took place between workers and police at various places from Nischintapur to Narsinghpur. In the Unique area, workers burned tyres on the Abdullahpur-Baipail road and protested. Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police-1, said that in the face of worker unrest, by 11am on Tuesday holidays had been given at 55 factories or the workers had walked out, and chase and counter-chase with police were taking place at various places.

A worker of the Ha-Meem Group, speaking on condition of anonymity, said forming a wage board alone will not be enough; they want its implementation. He demanded that a new pay structure be announced very quickly.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweater Workers Trade Union Centre, said it is true that workers are moving to realise their demands, and it is also true that the movement is not stopping because some miscreants are instigating the workers.

Asked whether there had been a lack of intelligence activity beforehand, noting that the plan for unrest was for December, the home minister said some quarters linked to past fascist forces are conspiring to create this unrest for political purposes and to serve base political interests. He said the government will suppress it with a firm hand.