Staff reporter:
Garment workers have returned to work in different industrial areas across the country, including Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur, following the government’s initiative to form a minimum wage board and its decision to implement the new wage structure from December.
With workers returning to their workplaces, production activities in readymade garment (RMG) factories have started gaining momentum.
Traffic movement in industrial areas has also remained normal. The overall law and order situation is under control, helping restore a normal working environment in the industrial zones.
Today, workers were seen attending their workplaces at various garment factories in Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Mirpur, Tongi, Narayanganj and Mymensingh.
In particular, almost all factories in Tongi, Bashan, Konabari and Sreepur areas of Gazipur were operating with normal production activities. The situation has also improved in the Savar and Ashulia industrial areas as workers have resumed their duties.
Chief of Industrial Police and Additional Inspector General (AIG) Gazi Jasim Uddin told BSS that the situation in industrial areas was much better than before.
“Workers had joined their workplaces in various factories. The overall law and order situation in the industrial areas of Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur and Narayanganj remained under control. The situation in Narayanganj was also comparatively good,” he added.
Owners of several garment factories in Gazipur said the government’s prompt initiative to form a wage board had created confidence among workers.
The workers also expressed satisfaction with the government’s initiative and said they had returned to work.
Amzad Hossain, a worker at a garment factory in the Cherag Ali area of Tongi in Gazipur, told BSS that they wanted factories to remain operational.
“If factories were closed, they would lose their opportunities to work. The authorities had informed them that their wages would be increased from December in line with the decision of the government-formed wage board. They were happy with the government’s initiative,” he said.
Tania, a garment worker from the Sataish-Gazipura area of Gazipur, said workers at their factory were working regularly. The factory had not remained closed, and they had also joined work today.
She also mentioned that some outsiders had staged a procession in front of the factory.
Labour organisations have also called on workers in Gazipur to return to their workplaces to resolve the labour unrest.
Tamiz Uddin Tanu, president of the ‘Sramik Mukti Sangram Parishad, Gazipur’, formed with the coordination of 35 labour organisations, said the garment industry was one of the key driving forces of the country’s economy.
Everyone should remain alert so that no vested quarter or outsiders could exploit the workers’ movement for their legitimate demands to create instability in industrial areas, Tanu added.
Mohammad Shafiul Alam, joint convener of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation, said the government’s formation of a wage board had created an opportunity to discuss workers’ demands.
He said a fair solution could be reached through discussions by placing confidence in the board.
Security measures have also been strengthened to maintain a normal working environment and public safety in industrial areas.
A total of 33 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in different industrial areas in and around Dhaka. Of them, three platoons are deployed in Mirpur, 11 in Savar and Ashulia, 12 in Gazipur and seven in Narayanganj.
The BGB said surveillance activities had been strengthened through the use of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Riot Control Vehicles (RCVs) and drones.
Body-worn cameras are also being used by personnel while performing their duties. BGB members are working in coordination with the local administration and police.
In Gazipur, members of law enforcement agencies are performing their duties under the leadership of 25 executive magistrates as part of an initiative by the district administration.
A total of 12 BGB platoons, eight platoons of the Industrial Reserve Police (IRP) and five platoons of Ansar members have been deployed there. Police and Industrial Police personnel are also on duty.
No reports of processions, rallies or any untoward incidents involving workers were received in Gazipur today. Traffic movement on the Dhaka-Tongi, Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways remained normal.
Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has directed banks to freeze the accounts of 204 individuals and organisations to investigate allegations of financing behind the recent unrest in the readymade garment industry.
The directive was issued to banks and financial institutions on Thursday.
A senior NBR official told BSS that initiatives had been taken to identify and freeze the bank accounts of the individuals and organisations concerned based on information provided by several government agencies.
At the same time, transaction details of a large number of organisations have been sought. The bank accounts of family members of the individuals and organisations on the list may also come under the initiative.
NBR sources said two intelligence units of the revenue board had sent letters to banks and financial institutions requesting them to identify and freeze the bank accounts of the listed individuals and organisations.
