Owners unwilling to keep factories open unless unrest stops: BGMEA president

Factory owners are unwilling to keep their factories open unless the ongoing unrest and vandalism in the garment sector stop, said Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). He said the association would soon discuss the situation with the government before deciding its next steps.

The BGMEA president made the remarks at his office on Sunday (1 November) evening.

Mahmud Hasan Khan said entrepreneurs want to operate their factories every day and have invested to keep them running. Production cannot continue, however, without a suitable working environment.

On workers’ wages, he said a gazette notification had been issued to form a minimum wage board. Workers had already been informed of the matter.

The BGMEA president urged the home ministry and law enforcement agencies to take firm action to address the situation. He demanded that those taking the law into their own hands be brought to justice.

He said owners had conveyed that they were unwilling to operate factories unless the unrest stopped. The BGMEA would review the overall situation and decide its next steps through discussions with the government.

Meanwhile, garment workers blocked roads and held demonstrations in the capital’s Mirpur, Gazipur and Savar from Sunday morning to press several demands, including a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000.