All Readymade Garments Factories in Ashulia zone will remain closed on Wednesday because of security reasons.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, Ashulia Zone BGMEA convener, confirmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune over phone, Tuesday evening.
He said: “We have made the decision due to some security reasons as many factories in the area were vandalised during the last two days of worker unrest.”
Replying to a query, he said: “We will fix our next course of action on Wednesday after holding a meeting with our organization members.”
Workers from various RMG factories in Ashulia have staging demonstrations since the last two days (Monday and Tuesday) demanding the implementation of a new salary structure fixed by the government-formed wage board.
Witnesses said garment workers from Narsinghpur, Gazirchat, Baipail, Nishchintapur and Shimultala areas under Ashulia police station took to the streets and staged demonstrations on Tuesday, for the second consecutive day.
Under such circumstances, authorities of 150 factories suspended production citing security reasons.
On November 4, the minimum wage board set Tk5,300 for entry-level workers, a 76.6% rise over the existing consolidated wage of Tk3, 000. This was decided through voting after both the owners and labour leaders had failed to reach a consensus.
But, the factory owners refused to pay Tk5,300 to entry-level workers.