Industry in deep crisis: Coordinated action must be taken

The Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) has been a symbol of Bangladesh’s industrial development and has driven the country’s economy forward for four decades.

Yet today, that same CEPZ is facing a terrible humanitarian and industrial disaster.

In the last 10 months, 16 factories there have been closed down. Nearly 60,000 workers have been rendered jobless.

According to media reports, the latest and biggest victims of this disaster are seven companies of the Pacific Jeans Group.

The clashes in the CEPZ suddenly closed these seven companies and left 35,000 workers unemployed. Earlier, a terrible fire in an seven-story building in CEPZ left nearly 3,000 workers unemployed.

There may be the legal right of the owner to close down a factory due to worker dissatisfaction, but the fact that workers are not paid during the factory closure as the provisions of the labor law has put them in an extreme crisis.

Media reports also highlight various aspects of the workers’ helplessness.

Former BGMEA vice-president Rakibul Alam Chowdhury smells a conspiracy behind this unrest and has called for increased intelligence surveillance.

The CEPZ has attracted more than $2 billion in investment in 42 years and created jobs for more than two hundred thousand workers.

But repeated clashes, strikes and fires in the industrial area are seriously undermining investors’ confidence.

At one time, there were about 700 BGMEA-registered factories in Chattogram, but now less than half are active.

If factories continue to close in this manner, the country’s export earnings will plummet, unemployment will increase, and social unrest will intensify, which will hinder the state’s economic goals and development plans.

It is essential to take rapid and coordinated steps to overcome this situation. Trust must be restored by rebuilding labor-management relations.

An effective tripartite dialogue system must be developed to listen to and resolve the just demands of workers.

Besides, modernizing the security infrastructure of EPZs and ensuring fire safety standards is the urgent need of the hour.

Alternative employment and rehabilitation programs must be taken for the workers so that they are not forced into inhumane condition due to the sudden closure of factories. Otherwise, the country’s industrial future will gradually become bleak.