Bangladeshi garment factory owners said on Sunday they would temporarily shut plants if workers did not return to their jobs, after 529 factories were unable to run production amid escalating wage unrest around the capital.
Owners made the decision at a meeting at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) office in Uttara, The Business Standard reported. BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said owners hoped output would resume on Monday after the government formed a new minimum wage board, but warned that “it will be difficult to keep factories open day after day”. Owners could close plants under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, he said.
Workers have staged repeated protests and road blockades since mid-October, demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka against the current 12,500 taka, plus unpaid wages and benefits.
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The unrest turned violent on Sunday. Protesters set fire to a police box in Gazipur, where Border Guard Bangladesh personnel were deployed, and burned police vehicles during clashes in Mirpur.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman called an emergency meeting with the home and labour ministers and other officials to find ways to meet workers’ demands and bring them back to work, sources at his office said.
Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury urged workers to return to factories after announcing the wage board. He criticised factories that declared holidays and alleged that some political organisations were trying to create instability.
It was not immediately clear whether workers would return on Monday.