Garment owners plan temporary factory closures if workers do not return to work

Garment factory owners have decided to temporarily close factories under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act if workers do not return to work despite the formation of a new wage board.

The decision was taken at a meeting of garment factory owners at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) office in Uttara today (1 November) amid ongoing labour unrest across several industrial areas, according to factory owners who attended the meeting.

A total of 529 factories were unable to continue production today as workers did not report for work amid the unrest.

BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu told The Business Standard that owners expected normal production to resume from tomorrow following the formation of the wage board.

“Today, the wage board was formed. So, we hope that normal production activities will resume from tomorrow,” he said.

“However, if workers still do not return to work, it will be difficult to keep factories open day after day.”

He said factory owners would be able to close their establishments under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act if the situation continued.

“Today, 529 factories could not continue production because workers did not join work,” he added.

Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act allows an employer to temporarily close an establishment under certain circumstances when workers engage in an illegal strike or otherwise prevent normal operations, subject to the provisions of the law.

Since mid-October, garment workers have staged repeated demonstrations and road blockades in several industrial areas, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000, payment of outstanding wages and other benefits. Workers blocked the Mirpur-10 intersection again today, disrupting traffic in the area.

The government has moved to form a new minimum wage board for the garment sector. Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said yesterday (31 October) that the board would be announced today.

The minister said representatives of garment manufacturers and workers had agreed to the formation of the board and urged workers to return to their workplaces.

The current minimum monthly wage for garment workers is Tk12,500. Under an amendment to the labour law, wages are to be reviewed every three years, with the next review due in December 2026.