Giant Textiles Limited in Gazipur has clarified its position over a recent 3-day factory shutdown caused by workers’ unrest.
Workers staged a sit-in outside the factory at 8am on Monday (September 29) and later blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Memberbari, demanding the removal of certain officials, citing abuse against the workers.
Police intervened later, assuring workers their grievances would be addressed, and traffic resumed.
Gazipur Industrial Police Inspector Abdul Latif confirmed the incident on Monday.
Complaints of alleged sexual harassment were filed earlier by three female members of the factory’s Worker Participation Committee (WPC).
The management denied the allegations, accusing workers of assaulting officials.
Regarding the issue, Anwarul Huq Ripon, general manager of Giant Textiles Ltd., told Dhaka Tribune: "The entire matter has now been resolved through the cooperation of the Army and Industrial Police. Our factory has been open since Tuesday (September 30.) Last week, Saturday to Monday (September 27-29) had been declared a general holiday at our factory."
Regarding allegations of harassment and the overall issue, he remarked: "We had a worker who was leaving early without punching out and returning to punch out later. He was also wrongfully stating overtime hours. For this, he was given a show-cause notice last Thursday, which he didn’t reply to, and instead instigated unrest at the factory."
"Later, some outsiders appeared on the scene, entered the premises on Saturday along with additional workers, took the keys from the security guard, and locked the gates. The accused worker was not present but ensured that all other workers didn’t work on the floor. In reality, only 8–9 individuals instigated the entire incident.”
He further explained: "Things got worse when they, including some female workers, started attacking our admin team and production AGM. They started breaking glasses and doors, locked themselves in, refusing to let anyone in or out of the factory despite the declaration of a holiday according to Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006. We declared a general holiday for the day, but the workers refused to leave. Police were present all along, but that didn’t affect them at all. Finally, all workers left the factory around 5:30pm."
“Certain confrontations occurred in the heat of the moment, which have been verified through video footage. Based on this and other evidence, a meeting was held on Monday (September 29) at the office of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) with the participation of BGMEA business leaders, labor representatives, the Army, police, and all relevant stakeholders. In that meeting, a joint decision was reached that 39 employees related to the unrest were released and will be paid all their dues in accordance with labor laws by October 7,” he added.