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News 5<br />
FRIDAY, DECEMBER <strong>23</strong>, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Ashulia showdown erupts over<br />
demand for living wage<br />
DT<br />
• Kamrul Hasan<br />
The sentiment among Ashulia<br />
workers yesterday was calm but<br />
unapologetic.<br />
Workers told the Dhaka Tribune<br />
they felt the need to agitate<br />
for minimum wage increases or<br />
else the government would never<br />
pay heed to their demands. They<br />
said scheduled rallies were not always<br />
effective.<br />
A demand for a living wage<br />
made by a labour organisation last<br />
month appears to be behind the<br />
Ashulia labour showdown that led<br />
to owner-initiated shutdowns of<br />
55 factories on <strong>December</strong> 20.<br />
The next day, the number of<br />
factory closures under Article<br />
13(1) of the Labour Act reached 84.<br />
Torn rally posters featuring<br />
speaker Soumitra Kumar Das,<br />
president of the Savar-Ashulia-Dhamrai<br />
regional committee<br />
of the Garment Labourers Front<br />
(GLF), were plainly visible in the<br />
vicinity of the factories that have<br />
halted operations yesterday.<br />
Widespread postering for the<br />
conference preceded the rally.<br />
The rally held in front of Fantasy<br />
Kingdom Jamgora on November<br />
25 called for a minimum wage<br />
of Tk15,000, among other things.<br />
Soumitra was arrested by<br />
law enforcers on Wednesday on<br />
charge of provoking garment<br />
workers to create political unrest,<br />
according to Ashulia OC Mohsinul<br />
Kadir.<br />
According to the posters, the<br />
GLF claimed it would submit a<br />
memorandum to State Minister<br />
for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu<br />
demanding a Tk15,000 minimum<br />
wage for garments workers.<br />
Workers of nearby factories,<br />
who asked not to be named, told<br />
the Dhaka Tribune that the demand<br />
simmered for two weeks<br />
before erupting into the first of<br />
several incidents of labour unrest.<br />
Workers told the Dhaka Tribune<br />
that on <strong>December</strong> 11, they<br />
heard that their colleagues were<br />
demanding a wage hike.<br />
Ashulia workers want to return to work<br />
Garments labourers hit by loss of pay during owner-initiated closures<br />
• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi and<br />
Kamrul Hasan<br />
A fear of losing more of their wages<br />
is causing the workers of recently<br />
closed RMG factories in Savar’s<br />
Ashulia area to seek a return to<br />
work as soon as possible.<br />
Garments factory owners’ body<br />
BGMEA has said the closed factories<br />
will reopen if the workers return<br />
to work peacefully and pledge<br />
to abjure agitation tactics.<br />
On Tuesday, in the wake of a<br />
continuous workers strike in Ashulia<br />
and Savar, some 84 RMG factory<br />
owners declared that they were<br />
shutting down their manufacturing<br />
units.<br />
The closure of factories under<br />
Article 13(1) of the Labour Act, 2013<br />
allows owners to shut down all or<br />
part of industrial units affected by<br />
unscheduled labour action and allows<br />
the resulting loss in workers’<br />
wages to remain unpaid.<br />
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune,<br />
several workers in Ashulia and<br />
Savar expressed fears of losing<br />
more money if factories remain<br />
closed. They said they were eager<br />
to return to work.<br />
“I have to bear family expenses<br />
as well as my own with my wages.<br />
I am in doubt about receiving payment<br />
for those days the factory was<br />
closed,” Ferdous Mirza, a worker of<br />
Law enforcers stand guard outside the gates of Windy Apparels Limited on Wednesday after the factory authorities sacked<br />
120 workers. The list of workers sacked was also posted on the gate NADIM HOSSAIN<br />
Windy Group told the Dhaka Tribune.<br />
“If wages are deducted from<br />
my monthly salary, it will leave me<br />
in trouble to meet family expenses.”<br />
He urged the factory owners not<br />
to cut wages during the Article 13(1)<br />
closure.<br />
“I will work for my wages,” he<br />
added.<br />
Mohammad Anowar, a worker<br />
of Universe Knitting told the Dhaka<br />
Tribune: “There was no problem<br />
with our factory but it was declared<br />
closed following the strike at other<br />
This localised demand spiralled<br />
into a full-blown strike, garnering<br />
broad support from other<br />
garments workers.<br />
The factory remained closed<br />
for four days after clashes took<br />
place between police and workers.<br />
On <strong>December</strong> 17, the factory’s<br />
owners, Bangladesh Police Dhaka<br />
Range Additional Deputy Commissioner<br />
of police Shafique and<br />
the Superintendent of Industrial<br />
Police sat with the agitating workers.<br />
A female worker name Razia<br />
was injured during clashes on<br />
<strong>December</strong> 14 said she received<br />
Tk2,000 from the owners. Factory<br />
owners also arranged lunch for<br />
workers on <strong>December</strong> 18 and 19.<br />
Outside workers have tried to<br />
benefit from the largesse shown<br />
by some factory owners.<br />
One female worker told the<br />
Dhaka Tribune that as she was<br />
returning to her factory, outside<br />
workers tried to beat her as she<br />
took lunch items from their garment<br />
authorities.<br />
On <strong>December</strong> 19, workers received<br />
word that other workers<br />
linked to the strike leaders were<br />
forcing everybody to leave the<br />
factory immediately.<br />
The next day, the factories<br />
were announced closed by their<br />
respective owners. •<br />
factories.<br />
“This has affected my earnings.<br />
It is my earnest request to the management<br />
to reopen the factory. We<br />
were not involve in the strike.”<br />
BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman<br />
told the Dhaka Tribune: “Demands<br />
for wage hikes are illogical<br />
because there is a provision for 5%<br />
annual increments which owners<br />
implement.<br />
“A new wage structure is possible<br />
only after the expiry of the five-year<br />
tenure of the current structure that<br />
was effected in <strong>December</strong> 2013.”<br />
He added: “If workers want to<br />
return to work peacefully, I will<br />
talk to the owners and decide<br />
whether or not the factories will be<br />
reopened.”<br />
When asked about wages withheld<br />
during the closure, Siddiqur<br />
said: “We will follow the law.”<br />
Sirajul Islam Rony, president of<br />
the Bangladesh National Garment<br />
Workers Employees League, told<br />
the Dhaka Tribune: “I think workers<br />
will have to apply to factory<br />
owners to reopen the factories stating<br />
that they want to work.”<br />
The demand for a wage hike<br />
is logical but the way the workers<br />
went about it – going on strike –<br />
was outside the legal framework,<br />
Rony said.<br />
“Unruly labour tactics cannot<br />
ensure worker rights. Instead they<br />
create the opportunity for factory<br />
owners to take legal action against<br />
workers,” said Rony.<br />
“If workers went on strike after<br />
placing their demands, owners<br />
would not have had the chance to<br />
shut down the factories.” •<br />
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY<br />
Dhaka 28 17 Chittagong 28 20 Rajshahi 27 16 Rangpur 27 15 Khulna 28 15 Barisal 28 17 Sylhet 28 15<br />
Cox’s Bazar 27 19<br />
DRY WEATHER<br />
FRIDAY, DECEMBER <strong>23</strong><br />
DHAKA<br />
TODAY<br />
TOMORROW<br />
SUN SETS 5:17PM<br />
SUN RISES 6:38AM<br />
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW<br />
28.2ºC<br />
11.2ºC<br />
Cox’s Bazar Jessore<br />
Source: Accuweather/UNB<br />
PRAYER<br />
TIMES<br />
Fajr: 6:00am | Jumma: 1:15pm<br />
Asr: 4:00pm | Magrib: 5:27pm<br />
Esha: 7:30pm<br />
Source: Islamic Foundation
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