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Labour unrest shuts all garment units in Ashulia

200 hurt as RMG workers run amok; 50 vehicles damaged; 30 factories ransacked; five arrested

Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) decided to close all apparel units in Ashulia for an indefinite period in the wake of yesterday’s labour unrest that injured at least 200 people.
The decision came at an emergency meeting of the association and it reasoned out that the continuous unrest spread jitters among garment entrepreneurs.
Ashulia, an industrial belt, turned into a battlefield with several thousand garment-workers blockading the busy road and vandalising vehicles. The workers demanded Tk 5,000 in minimum wages.
At least 20 police personnel were among the injured after clashes raged between the workers and law enforcers.
The areas troubled by the labour unrest include Jirabo, Narasinghapur, Ghoshbagh and Baipail.
Police and locals said the trouble originated from Ananta Garments in Nishchintopur, where workers demonstrated for a three-fold pay hike to Tk5,000.
The violence spread as a group of workers from a nearby factory broke into a Ha-Meem Group factory during the lunch break, said witnesses.
Delwar Hossain, deputy managing director of Ha-Meem Group, said the 'outside workers' assaulted one of his line chiefs, as the officer tried to keep them from rampaging into the apparel unit.
"The line chief was severely injured. Worse still, the agitators did not let him go to hospital for hours," Hossain said.
Police said Ha-Meem officials held a meeting with the agitators to settle the matter, but the effort fell apart. This prompted the company to shut its factories to avoid further trouble.
However, the agitation spread further when the angry workers came back out on the road and vandalised at least 50 vehicles and around 30 adjacent factories, witnesses said.
The workers locked in clashes with the police as the law enforcers tried to obstruct them from blockading the road by firing rubber bullets, teargas canisters and spraying hot water. The clashes continued until 7:00pm.
Police said some unidentified people set fire to three vehicles of Skyline Garments Ltd.
Traffic on Dhaka-Tangail and Nabinagar-Kaliakoir highways came to a standstill at the time.
The injured workers and police personnel were given first-aid.
Savar Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Monwar Hossain said police used more than 90 rubber bullets and at least 150 teargas canisters to calm the situation.
Five people were arrested in this connection. Police said none of the arrestees was a worker.
Additional 200 policemen had been deployed in the area to quell the agitation. WORRIED GARMENT LEADERS
Garment makers expressed concern over the current spell of labour unrest that has been taking a heavy toll on the country's prime export earning apparel industry.
The exporters fear that orders from international buyers may shift to alternative destinations, following continued labour unrest, BGMEA said in an earlier statement.
The statement added that the unrest took place when stakeholders are reviewing the minimum wage structure for garment workers.
BGMEA leaders said production in the factories at Ashulia, Savar and Rupganj has been hampered badly over the last 15 days.
They said the workers are not showing up at work and are involved in the unrest to
realise some illogical demands, ahead of the announcement of a fresh minimum wage structure.
The government is likely to announce the new wage structure for the garment workers before Eid-ul-Fitr. The unrest is taking place even though owners are now paying the workers according to the rules of the minimum wage structure, the statement added.
The BGMEA leaders also said they cannot produce at full capacity due to the ongoing shortage of gas and power. As a result, they are failing to maintain the lead-time set by international buyers.
Failing on-time production, the owners had to air ship 45,882 tonnes of apparel items from December 9 to April 10 at a cost of Tk 1,311 crore, the statement said.
"If such unrest prevails in the industrial sector, it will erode the confidence level of the entrepreneurs," the statement said.
BGMEA sought cooperation from all to save the garments industry, which directly employs 3.5 million workers, the statement said.