RMG clash in Ashulia: 5 more cases filed over factory vandalism
Five more cases have been filed at the Ashulia police station in connection with attacks and vandalism in various factories in Dhaka's Ashulia.
This brings the number of cases filed so far to 17 in connection with the vandalism of garment factories in Ashulia amid the ongoing protest of the RMG workers demanding wage hikes.
"In total 5 new cases have been filed after the previous 12 cases. Out of 17 cases, 61 people have been named in 4 cases, rest are unnamed," Additional Superintendent of Police (Savar Circle) Shahidul Islam told The Business Standard (TBS) on Monday (13 November).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
A total of 7 people have been arrested in those cases, he added.
The total number of accused in the 17 cases is about 3,500 to 4,000, he added.
Earlier, the authorities of Saiin Apparels Ltd, Hamim Group Next Collection Ltd and Disang Sweaters Ltd filed separate cases at Ashulia police station.
58 factories remain closed in Ashulia
The 58 factories in Ashulia that declared holiday following the unrest have remained closed today as well.
"58 of the factories that were closed under Section 13 (1) of the Labor Act in Ashulia are still closed today due to labour unrest. Apart from this, workers are working normally in all other factories," Superintendent of Police (Industrial Police-1) Mohammad Sarwar Alam told TBS.
Workers of Naba Knit Composite Limited came to the factory but left without joining work, he added.
"We hope that the closed factories will also be opened soon. We are noticing that there is an interest among the workers to work, they also want to work peacefully", added the SP.
In addition, adequate measures have been taken to ensure overall safety. Apart from this, additional police have been deployed in front of various factories and at important points for the sake of security.
Amidst the ongoing garment workers' protests at Ashulia of Savar and in Gazipur, factory authorities suspended operations of 78 RMG factories employing approximately 300,000 workers, citing Article 13/1 of the labour law.
Of the factories 52 are located at Ashulia, 25 at Konabari of Gazipur and one at the capital's Uttara.
Factory owners said they took the move after back-to-back workers' protests demanding a hike in the minimum wage over the past three weeks that left three dead and scores injured.
The garments sector — the jewel in Bangladesh's export crown, with exports reaching over $46.99 billion in the fiscal year 2023 — has been ravaged by a week of protests in the past week. On 21 October, workers demanded that their minimum wage be increased from the existing Tk8,000 to Tk20,390 while the owners have proposed to increase it to Tk10,400.
On 30 October, at least two people were killed and about 40 injured in massive clashes between police and ready-made garment workers in several industrial areas in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur.
Following the weeklong clashes, the factory owners on 1 November agreed to pay higher minimum wages to garment workers than Tk10,400, which they proposed earlier.
Earlier on 7 November, the RMG wage board fixed the minimum wage for the sector at Tk12,500 after discussing with factory owners and workers' representatives.
Yesterday, the labour and employment ministry published a gazette fixing the minimum wage for the sector at Tk12,500.
If anyone has any recommendations or objections regarding the wages, they have the opportunity to inform the Chairman of the Minimum Wage Board Liaquat Ali Molla in writing within the next 14 days, states the gazette published on Sunday (13 November).
The board will make recommendations to the government after considering the objections or recommendations received within this period, the gazette said.
