130 factories shut in Savar area for indefinite period

At least 130 garment factories have been shut down in Savar, Ashulia and Dhamrai industrial area for an indefinite period due to garment workers‍‍` unrest.

The factories were closed under the section 13/1 of the Labour Act, which means "no work, no pay‍‍`‍‍`.

After visiting Jamgara, Narsinghpur, Zirabo, and Kathgara in the Ashulia industrial area in the morning, this reporter identified that factory shutdown notices were hanging in front of almost all of the factory gates.

Sarwar Hossain, general secretary of Garments Shramik Unity league, told the correspondent that the 130 factories employ over two lakh workers.

"We are aware that the factories were closed under section 13/1 of Labour Act. Worker will not get payment during closer under this section. We want factories to be opened as soon as possible by settling the issues," he said.

Among the total, 100 factories have been declared closed in the industrial area of Ashulia alone, Sarwar Alam, superintendent of police of Ashulia Industrial Police-1, said this morning.

"There are 1,792 factories in Savar, Ashulia and Dhamrai. Due to the ongoing worker unrest, 130 factories in the region have been declared closed," he said.

The SP said that the situation in Savar and Ashulia is regular today. Workers joined work at factories.

Additional law enforcement personnel have been deployed in the area to maintain the work environment.

When asked how many charges were filed during the recent chaos and how many people had been detained in Ashulia, he answered that factory authorities had filed five cases so far. Four workers who were participating in the unrest were arrested.

He said, without revealing the overall number of accused, that 16 identified people and many unnamed people had been accused in these cases.

The SP said, "We are trying to ensure that no innocent person is victimised. We are trying to identify the real culprits."