Staff Reporter :
Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan warned on Saturday that anyone attempting to shut down factories to destabilise the government and harm the economy would be remembered.
“The government will implement special measures to tackle the unrest in ready-made garment (RMG) factories,” he said during a views exchange meeting on the ongoing crisis in RMG factories, held at the BGMEA Building.
Though Adilur did not provide further details about these measures, he announced that a decision had been made to keep all factories open on Sunday.
During the event, garment factory owners warned that, should unrest force any factory closures, they would invoke section 13(1) of the labour law. This section allows employers to shut down sections of an establishment in the event of an illegal strike.
BGMEA President Khandaker Rafiqul Islam chaired the meeting, which was also attended by Labour and Employment Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan and Fisheries Adviser Farida Akhtar.
ESCALATING PROTESTS
Over the past two weeks, garment industry workers, frustrated over unpaid wages, have increasingly turned to protests. This culminated in a fire at a chemical warehouse in Kashimpur (Gazipur district) on Wednesday, where workers prevented fire services from extinguishing the blaze at the Big-Boss factory, part of the Beximco Group. Reports indicate that plant assets were also looted.
Salman F Rahman, owner of the Beximco Group and a former Member of Parliament for Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, is currently in custody. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled on 5 August following student protests demanding her resignation.
The unrest has resulted in the closure of 183 garment factories, including 54 in the Savar-Ashulia-Jirani area and 12 in Gazipur. Many workers have been laid off due to a lack of work.
The disruptions in the garment industry, a cornerstone of Bangladesh’s exports, pose significant risks to international orders. Many fear that foreign buyers may not renew sales contracts for the next season, jeopardising the future of the industry.