“No Work, No Pay”: Five Garment Factories Shut Indefinitely

❐ Staff Reporter

Authorities have announced the indefinite closure of five garment factories in the capital’s Uttara area of ​​Dakshinkhan, amid ongoing protests by workers demanding a salary increase and payment of outstanding wages.

It has been decided to close the factories by implementing the ‘no work, no pay’ policy in accordance with Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labor Act-2006.

The decision to close was announced in separate notices to the relevant institutions on October 15 (Thursday). The five factories are Versatile Apparel Private Limited, Umbrella Limited, Nice Apparels Indus Limited, Dazzling Dresses Limited and Oleo Apparels Limited.

The authorities’ notice said that from October 12 to 14, a group of workers allegedly went on an unethical and illegal strike, did not attend work, and created a tense situation at the workplace.

Authorities claim that this has disrupted normal production and raised concerns about the safety of officials and employees.

The notice from Nice Apparels, located in the Chalaban area of ​​Dakshinkhan, alleged that some workers had blocked the main gate of the factory and created obstacles for other workers to enter work.

On the other hand, Oleo Apparels authorities said that despite attempts to return the workers to work and reach an agreement, the situation has not improved.

In this situation, the authorities have decided to indefinitely suspend all activities of the factories, except for the work of the security department. They said that the time for the resumption of production and other activities will be announced at a later notice once the situation normalizes.

Earlier, workers of various garment factories in Uttara’s Azampur and Rajlaxmi areas started a movement on October 12 (Monday). Their demands include fixing the minimum basic salary at Tk 30,000, payment of outstanding wages, and increase in other benefits.

The protesters said that the prices of daily necessities, house rent, medical expenses, and children’s education expenses have increased. It has become difficult to run a family on the current salary. They said that they were forced to take to the streets after repeated demands were not met with a solution.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, workers protested and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Azampur area. This disrupted traffic for several hours. Later, the police removed them from the road using sound grenades.

Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labor Act-2006 states that if a factory is closed due to an illegal strike, the workers participating in the strike will not receive wages during the closure period.

However, the wages of workers who did not participate in the strike cannot be automatically stopped under the same section. Other applicable provisions of the law will have to be followed in their case.