88 Garment Factories Stay Open in Savar-Ashulia Even on Weekly Holiday, Workers Join Work Peacefully

On Friday, 6 November, the weekly holiday, 88 garment factories are running in the Savar and Ashulia industrial areas of Dhaka. Workers have joined work at these factories. The situation across the whole area is completely normal, the Industrial Police said.

Garment workers had been protesting in Savar and Ashulia for the past few days with various demands, including setting the minimum wage at 30,000 taka. During that time, they also clashed with law enforcement personnel.

In the meantime, after the government formed a minimum wage board, the situation began to return to normal. Most factories in the industrial area were open on Thursday. According to the collected information, the wage board's second meeting on setting the minimum wage is scheduled for 9 November.

The Industrial Police said that even in normal times, some factories are kept open on holidays, especially by those with urgent shipments. At the 88 factories open on the Friday holiday, workers joined work peacefully from the morning. No information about any kind of disorder was received from anywhere.

Shoyeb Ahmed, additional superintendent of Industrial Police-1, said the situation is all normal. Factories are normally closed on the Friday holiday, but those with urgent needs keep them running, and 88 such factories are running today. There is a peaceful environment across the whole area, he said.

Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of Industrial Police-1, said that from Friday morning the situation across the whole industrial area has been peaceful and normal. The 88 garment factories that are running are those with urgent needs. Workers have joined work peacefully at these factories, and police members are performing their regular duties, he said.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, said that even in normal times some factories stay open on holidays for various urgent needs. They have already called on workers to join work peacefully. There had been a peaceful environment in the industrial area since Thursday, and they expect the environment to remain peaceful even when work starts in full swing.

Khairul Mamun Mintu also said a wage board has been formed, and workers' demands and discontent over wages should now be resolved through discussion. Workers need, for now, to return to their workplaces and keep production running while waiting for the wage board's decision. But if fear is created among workers, returning to work will be difficult, so situations such as allegations of police searches or harassment at workers' homes must be stopped and their safety and a normal working environment ensured, he said.