RMG workers agitate for arrears, job reinstatement
Abu Bakar, a worker at JAMS Knitwear Pvt Ltd, said the factory authorities have shut its knitting section and terminated 150 workers without paying them any compensation
Hundreds of apparel workers staged demonstrations at Jurain and Postogola area in the capital on Thursday, demanding reinstatement of their sacked colleagues and arrears for March and April.
Abu Bakar, a worker at JAMS Knitwear Pvt Ltd, said the factory authorities have shut its knitting section and terminated 150 workers without paying them any compensation.
"We demand salaries for March and April," he added.
Admitting the termination of 130 workers, Najir Ahamed, owner of the sweater factory, said, as per the labour law, he has an option to shut a section of his factory as workers were creating unrest illogically.
There is no scope to pay them as they were dismissed two months before, he said adding those workers are now demonstrating to get wages from the stimulus fund.
Except the closed section, the factory has been running with some 400 workers, Najir said.
According to Industrial Police data, some 1421 garments and textile factories reopened on Thursday. Of them, only 97 were from the textile sector and 1324 were garment factories. However, workers at 185 garment and textile factories still remain unpaid.