Bangladesh garment factory owners have announced that factories disrupted by wage-related labour unrest may be shut without pay from Sunday under Section 13(1) of the Labour Act, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said on Saturday.
Nearly 1,500 factory owners met at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) headquarters in Uttara, Dhaka, to discuss the emergency labour situation. BGMEA and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) leaders addressed a press conference at 3pm after the meeting.
Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said a small number of “misguided” workers, allegedly provoked by outside groups, were creating disorder inside factories. He said the workers were not working themselves and were preventing others from working.
“Workers are being forced by their instigation and threats to punch their cards and leave without working,” he said.
BGMEA and BKMEA members have been forced to keep 147 factories closed because of the situation, according to the BGMEA president. He said the unrest was severely damaging the garment sector’s international image and causing major losses to the national economy.
Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said the Minimum Wage Board was also unable to operate normally amid the unrest.
Factory owners attending the emergency meeting said discussions at the wage board would be called into question unless overall security at factories was ensured. Owners said they had been compelled to make a difficult but unavoidable decision to close factories from Sunday if production was disrupted by the ongoing unrest.
Under Section 13(1) of the Labour Act, an employer may partially or fully close a branch or department of an establishment if an illegal strike occurs. Workers participating in such a strike are not entitled to wages.
Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, citing labour representatives on the wage board, said their workers had no involvement in the disorder. He said, however, that labour federations had not played an adequately effective role in resolving the crisis and that their leaders were unable to maintain control over field-level workers.
“The situation is becoming more complicated,” he said. “We hope the government will be able to bring the law-and-order situation in industrial areas under control as quickly as possible.”
Factory owners had made maximum efforts to keep factories operational over the past 12 to 13 days, Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said. He said 55 factories remained closed under Section 13(1) until last Thursday, while 92 factories were unable to continue production on Saturday.
“Any of these factories may invoke Section 13(1) tomorrow if they wish,” he said, adding that around 300,000 workers are employed at the affected factories.
Factory owners said they would nevertheless attend the Minimum Wage Board meeting on November 16.
“Efforts to continue discussions while factory vandalism goes on are questionable,” Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu said. “Still, we will take part in the November 16 discussion.”
“If the wage board is not allowed to work in an orderly manner, how will it receive the right proposal and how will wages be increased?” he said. “The owners’ side will submit its wage increase proposal on November 16.”
The latest minimum wage for ready-made garment workers was announced in November 2023 and took effect the following month. Labour law amendments this year reduced the period for revising workers’ minimum wages from five years to three years.
The current minimum wage period for the garment sector will therefore expire in November. The sector’s minimum wage was increased from Tk8,000 to Tk12,500 in 2023, a rise of 56.25%.
The newly formed Minimum Wage Board received a new wage proposal from workers’ representatives during its second meeting last Monday. The proposal set the minimum monthly wage for a worker at Tk32,000.
Factory owners are scheduled to submit their proposal next Monday. The independent wage board will announce the new wage structure after reviewing both proposals.
All parties have agreed that the new wage will take effect from December.