Garment owners may decide to close factories if worker unrest does not ease, BGMEA emergency meeting on Saturday

If worker unrest, work stoppages, protests and vandalism in factories continue, owners of the ready-made garment industry may decide to close factories under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006. Garment owners have agreed in principle on this.

If the situation does not improve, a final decision on this may be taken at an emergency general meeting (EGM) to be held on Saturday (November 14) at the office of the garment owners' organisation BGMEA in Uttara, Dhaka.

The BGMEA is going to call the emergency meeting to review the ongoing labour unrest and the situation in industrial factories and determine the next steps. A concerned source at the organisation gave this information.

According to the source, if workers continue protests and programmes without joining work, and incidents of vandalism and damage to property in factories keep occurring, owners may take a tougher position. In that case, alongside closing factories under Section 13(1) of the Labour Act, they may also reconsider their participation in the wage board discussions.

BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan said a disorderly situation in factories cannot continue alongside discussions on wages. The next decision will be taken after observing the situation.

He said: 'Wage discussions will go on, and disorder will also go on at the same time — that cannot happen. It was decided in yesterday's meeting that we will observe the situation until today. If the situation does not improve, a decision will be taken in the interest of the industry.'

Mahmud Hasan Khan also said owners are keen to reach an acceptable solution through discussion on wages. But if an unstable situation continues in factories alongside the talks, that cannot be accepted. To maintain an environment for discussion, normal production activities and discipline in industrial factories must also be ensured.

Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 says that if there is an illegal strike in a specific branch or section of an establishment, the owner may close that branch or, if necessary, the whole establishment. In such a closure, workers who took part in the strike will receive no wages.

Ready-made garment workers have been protesting and observing work stoppages in various industrial areas for several days demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka. Incidents of vandalism in various factories, road blockades and disruption of production have also occurred during the movement, creating unrest in the industrial areas.

In response to the workers' movement, the government formed a new minimum wage board on November 1. Two meetings have already been held since the board was formed. Representatives of workers and owners discussed the new wage structure in those meetings.

At the latest meeting, the workers' representative proposed fixing the minimum monthly wage for garment workers at 32,000 taka. The owners, on the other hand, said they would present their proposal at the next meeting.

However, even though a new wage board has been formed and discussions have begun, the workers' movement has not stopped. Many workers are still protesting without joining work. In this situation, if there is no improvement, a final decision on factory closure may come from the emergency general meeting on November 14.