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Labour Unrest on

Ashulia RMG units to stay shut today

Staff Correspondent
All garment units in the Ashulia industrial belt on the outskirts of Dhaka will remain closed today over security concerns following a continuous labour unrest in the last few days, owners said yesterday.
The manufacturers could not run their factories in full swing and production at some 150 units was suspended yesterday when workers took to the streets for the second day, demanding Tk 8,114 as their minimum monthly wage.
"We are having talks with labour leaders on how to keep the factories open," Abdus Salam Murshedy, a former president of the garment makers' platform, said after a meeting of the owners in Ashulia area where around 250 garment units are located.
A zonal committee, Ashulia-Savar Garment Owners Association, will sit today to decide the next course of action, said Murshedy, the convenor of the association.
Meanwhile, sporadic clashes in different parts of Ashulia left at least 50 people injured, police said.
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Hundreds of workers from different garment factories started the demonstrations at around 9:00am in the area that soon turned into a battle field, said Shahid Ullah, senior assistant director of Ashulia industrial police.
As the unruly labourers hurled brickbats at law enforcers, they charged batons and fired several teargas canisters and rubber bullets.
The injured were admitted to local clinics and hospitals.
Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also said more than 150 garment units were shut yesterday in Ashulia.
However, production in factories inside Dhaka Export Processing Zone and in the Savar belt was normal, officials said.
Garment workers told The Daily Star that they would continue agitation until the owners met their demand.
Additional police have been deployed at the Ashulia industrial belt to avoid any untoward incident, said Mostafizur Rahman, director of Ashulia industrial
police.
Following similar protests in Narayanganj, the authorities of Sinha-Opex Garments closed its factory in Kanchpur yesterday while the owners of eight other factories in Fatulla announced closure of their units for an indefinite period on Monday.
The authorities of eight such factories also closed their units in Gazipur due to workers' protests, said Saiful Islam, sub inspector at Chakrabarti police outpost under Joydebpur Police Station.
A labour unrest has erupted in the country's apparel sector a few months back, seeking a revision of the workers' minimum wage.
Meanwhile, the garment workers' wage board on November 4 finalised its recommendation that Tk 5,300 should be the minimum salary.
The factory owners have rejected the proposed 76.66 percent hike in the minimum wage from the existingTk 3,000.
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said on Monday that the wage board will finalise the salary structure on November 21.