Garment Sector Unrest Spirals Out of Control; Prime Minister Calls Emergency Meeting of Ministers to Address the Situation

 Staff Correspondent

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has called an emergency meeting of the Home Minister, Labor Minister, and Labor Advisor, including a few ministers and advisors, in view of the unstable situation created in various industrial areas demanding the announcement of a new wage structure for workers in the ready-made garment industry sector.

According to sources in the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday (November 1), the meeting is scheduled to be held this evening.

Sources said that the Prime Minister has called a total of 6 to 7 people, including ministers and advisors, for this meeting on an urgent basis. The meeting has been called with the aim of implementing the demands of the garment workers and determining a strategy to quickly return them to work after handling the current situation.

Meanwhile, in such a critical situation, Labor and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury has canceled his previously scheduled visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier, workers started protesting in various industrial areas of Dhaka and its surroundings demanding a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 this morning. The protest turned violent in the afternoon. In Gazipur, agitating workers set fire to a police box. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has been deployed there to control the situation.

At the same time, there was a massive clash between police and workers in Mirpur in the capital. A police vehicle was also set on fire there. In addition, there were confrontations and chases between workers and police in Ashulia. In the wake of worker dissatisfaction and violence, more than a hundred garment factories in and around Dhaka have been declared closed.

Earlier, at around 11:30 am today, the government formed a minimum wage board to review the wages of ready-made garment workers as part of the process of normalizing the situation.