Garment workers demanding back pay yesterday ransacked at least 15 garment factories and four shopping centres at Jamgorah in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital.
The violence triggered closing of more than 60 garment factories in the area.
The agitating workers also blockaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway for over two hours and vandalized three vehicles, causing panic and a severe traffic jam.
At least 20 people were injured as police clubbed the mob of agitators to restore order in the area.
Meanwhile in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), two garment factories — Softex Sweater Factory and Feather Light — were shut down for various other reasons. Softex was closed due to labour unrest while Feather Light for insufficient work order, said sources.
In a late development, angry workers set fire to a factory of Meem Garments in Gazipur around 8:30pm yesterday damaging a huge quantity of fabrics and yarns.
Five units of fire fighters from Tongi and Gazipur rushed to the spot and put out the blaze around 11:00pm.
Both fire service and police officials confirmed that angry workers set fire to the factory at one stage of their protest demanding payment of overdue wages and Eid bonuses.
Workers of two other nearby factories also ransacked the factories they work in.
Meanwhile, workers of Meditex Sweater Factory in Konabari area under Gazipur Sadar upazila abstained from work yesterday, and workers of Euro Fashion Ltd at Masterbari under Sripur upazila staged a sit-in in front of the factory, both in demand for pay hikes.
According to eyewitness accounts, in Ashulia over 300 workers of Polonia Garments Ltd gathered in front of the factory premises for their overdue salaries at around 11:00am yesterday, the day that had been previously fixed by the factory authorities for the disbursement of salaries.
The unpaid workers became furious and started to ransack the factory as they found the main gate of the factory locked.
The situation turned worse when over 1,000 workers, armed with bamboo sticks and stones, from neighbouring factories joined Polonia workers and attacked other factories on the Dhaka-Tangail highway. Windowpanes, doors and furniture of the factories were damaged in the attack.
The factories that came under attack are Polonia Garments Ltd, Sed Fashion Ltd, Eastern Link Creation Ltd, Rivas Composit Ltd, Envoy Fashion, Scan Desk Ltd, Setara Group Ltd, Nodh Tex, Design Dreams Ltd, Universe Garments Ltd, Isa Fashion Ltd, Pall Mall Garments, Five Brother Ltd, and GBS Garments.
The shopping centres vandalised by the mob are Samir Plaza, Helen Plaza, Nigar Plaza, and Noor Jahan Mansion.
Panic gripped stranded passengers and vehicle owners on the highway when the workers started vandalising vehicles.
Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, told The Daily Star that the workers became angry as they did not receive their overdue salaries on time. “The authorities however paid off the salaries in the afternoon,” said the OC adding that no case was filed and no one was arrested.
Owners of the affected garment factories yesterday denied the allegation of non-payment to the workers and reiterated that a section of hooligan outsiders in the guise of workers ransacked their factories.
Owner of Envoy Fashion Ltd, Salam Murshedy, also a leader of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said his factory was ransacked by a section of hooligan outsiders who were masquerading as workers. “The workers did not attack my factory,” Murshedy said.
He said suddenly a group of outsiders tried to enter his factory, but the workers of the factory obstructed them.
The outsiders then threw stones and broke glass panes and other furniture, he added. Similarly, the outsiders ransacked other nearby factories, he said.
Murshedy said he will continue production in his factory today, as the damage to the factory is has not been severe.
“At least 5,000 workers are employed in my factory producing 45,000 apparel items a day. So, I cannot stop production as I pay the workers regularly,” he said.
Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, a platform of garment factory workers, said the workers agitation broke out for a pay hike in the wake of higher prices of essential commodities.
She said although the majority of owners pay salaries under the current wage structure, the minimum wage of Tk 1,662.50 a month is too little to maintain livelihoods. “So, it needs to be increased through negotiations, but not by damaging factories,” she added.
She said the government should also come forward to settle the issue of low salaries of the workers. “The workers, owners and government officials may sit together again for a solution,” she said.
BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez said the nature of the attack indicates that the rampage was carried out by outsiders, not by real workers.
“Only the compliant factories were ransacked. The factories those were attacked are all good in payment and in corporate culture,” he said.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Economy
