The Crime Desk: The owners have held a meeting with the labor unions to resolve the ongoing unrest in the garment industry sector of the country. In the meeting held on Friday (September 6), it was decided to open all the garment factories in the country from Saturday (September 7).
The decision was taken by the leaders of BGMEA, an association of garment industry owners, after receiving assurances from law enforcement agencies as well as labor leaders and local politicians to maintain the normal environment of the factories. They have also assured that the workers can join the work smoothly. Members of the army, police, and other law enforcement agencies, including the BGB, will be deployed to keep the situation in the industrial area normal.
A meeting was held with industrial owners, local political leaders, labor leaders of various organizations, and members of the law and order enforcement forces at the BGMEA office on Friday regarding the ongoing unrest in Ashulia garment factories due to massive labor protests. BGMEA president Khandaker Rafiqul Islam presided over the meeting; senior vice president Abdullah Hill Rakib, labor leader Montu Ghosh, and Nazma Akhtar were present in the meeting.
In a press briefing after the meeting, the labor leaders said that although their demands are reasonable, the solution is not agitation. The main challenge is to sustain the industry in the transitional period of the country. Because if the industry does not survive, many workers will be unemployed, and the country’s economy will suffer. They said many demands have been accepted by the owners. Some claims have been accepted by the owners. The rest will be resolved by discussion if written. So the workers should leave the movement and join the work.
BGMEA president Khandaker Rafiqul Islam told the media that there was an open discussion about the labor movement. This challenge must be met collectively. The number of law enforcement personnel and patrolling will be increased in Ashulia and Gazipur. Announcing the continuous operation of the garments from Saturday (today), he said the owners will be most happy if the workers get benefits. With the opening of the prison, the process of meeting the demands of the workers will also continue. For the past two weeks, protests have been going on for various demands, including tiffin allowance, attendance bonus, salary hike, annual salary hike, maternity leave, and retrenchment protest.
The workers were doing.
14 people were arrested in the operation.
According to the investigation, 14 suspects have been arrested by the members of the joint forces on charges of attack, vandalism, and creating unrest in various garment factories in the industrial areas of Savar and Ashulia. Dhaka District Superintendent of Police (SP) Ahmed Mueed confirmed this information to the media on Friday. They were arrested in joint raids in various areas of Savar and Ashulia industrial areas from Thursday (September 5) night.
Those arrested from Ashulia are Md. of Chakpara village of Sadar police station of Netrakona district. Ismail (24), Belbo Police Station of the same district. Alam (24), Farhad Mia (24) of Kodalia village, Nagarpur police station of Tangail district, Monir Hossain (21) of Azidpur village of Birol police station of Dinajpur district, Mostafizur Rahman Julhas (17) of Mymensingh, Gorat area of Ashulia. Shakeel (23), Asma Akhtar (28) of Ghosbag area, Shimu Akhtar of Nishchintpur area, Kulsum Begum of the same area, Mokhleshur Rahman (50) of Palashbari area of Ashulia, and Abu Hanif Mia (47). Besides, three more people have been arrested from Savar. However, their names and addresses are not known.
Ahmed Mueed said 14 suspects involved in creating unrest in the industrial area as well as attacking and vandalizing garment factories have been arrested. Among them, 11 people were arrested from Ashulia and three from the Savar area. Scrutiny is going on regarding the connection of the detainees with these disturbances. Legal action will be taken after verification.
Press conference of Sramik Oikya
President of Jatiya Sramik Oikya MA Faiz said in a press conference organized at Dhaka Reporters Unity before the meeting of labor leaders with BGMEA on Friday, there is no problem of salary and allowances in almost 100% of garment factories. The owners are forced to close down one garment factory. In the meantime, more than two hundred factories in Ashulia-Savar-Gazipur have been closed due to chaos. While some factories were closed due to workers’ wage agitation, most of them were declared closed due to planned vandalism by miscreants. In order to destroy the industrial sector of Bangladesh by creating instability in the garment industry in a planned way, all the garment industry fascist friends of the country, including Savar, Ashulia, Mirpur, and EPZ, rose up to protect the garment industry. Industrial police, local law enforcement, and the army were called to provide security in the area.
In the press conference, they sent men and women of different ages to demand jobs in the factories and carried out widespread vandalism with slogans of ‘jobs wanted’. The actual garment workers are not involved in this attack in any way. Workers never want their factories to close. We strongly demand that those who are behind the destruction of the garment industry and those involved in vandalism be identified and brought to justice.
