Pacific Jeans to shut CEPZ factory, around 5,000 workers to lose jobs

Pacific Jeans, one of the country’s leading denim manufacturers, has announced the closure of one of its factories at the Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ), putting around 5,000 workers at risk of losing their jobs.

The decision came after the three-decade-old building of Pacific Jeans Unit-01 was declared risky under compliance requirements of global buyers.

The factory authority said the five-storey building would be demolished and a new one constructed at the same site within the next one and a half years, creating around twice as many jobs as the current facility.

As announced earlier, 509 workers and employees from the cutting section of the CEPZ factory were formally released yesterday (31 October) after receiving their salaries, allowances and termination compensation.

The company said the remaining workers from the sewing, washing and other sections would also be released in phases after their dues are paid.

SM Kaiser Arefin, deputy manager of HR and Admin at Pacific Jeans, told The Business Standard, “The factory building is very old. The RMG Sustainability Council, which conducts compliance audits on behalf of global buyers, had declared the building risky and unsafe.

“We had been planning for nearly a year to demolish the factory building and construct a new one. As announced earlier, the decision came into effect from yesterday. A new building will be constructed within the next one and a half years, where around 10,000 people will be employed.”

According to information available on the company’s website, Pacific Jeans began operations in 1984, while its largest factory, Pacific Jeans Unit-01, started production in 1994. This is the unit that has now been declared closed.

The company employs more than 35,000 people across its 10 units in Chattogram EPZ, with a combined annual production capacity of around 50 million pieces.

Meanwhile, various claims are being circulated on social media over the loss of jobs following the factory closure. Videos showing emotional moments as workers leave the factory are also being shared online.

Company sources said efforts to absorb the affected workers into other factories had been disrupted by an incident last year.

At the time, workers at several Pacific Group factories staged simultaneous protests over the introduction of certain benefits and demanded that they not be transferred to other factories.

As a result, although there had already been a plan to close the old factory, the workers were not transferred to Pacific Attires Limited, a new factory that began operations two years ago.

Mahmuda Begum, superintendent of Industrial Police Chattogram, told TBS, “The factory’s infrastructure was declared risky in an RSC audit a year ago. Even then, they continued production after carrying out some internal renovation work.

“Now a decision has been taken to demolish the building and construct a new one. The company is paying all dues to workers who are losing their jobs. They are also being given experience certificates so they can look for new jobs.

“The company has also assured that they will be given priority when the factory resumes operations after reconstruction. The entire process is being carried out according to the rules and in a peaceful manner. There is no unrest among the workers.”