The manufacturers of readymade garments (RMG) said operations were normal on Monday at the major RMG industrial hubs in Savar, Ashulia, DMP, and Gazipur.
They said that the number of factories that are still closed or have been declared closed after starting production is negligible.
They also said that there were no reports of large protests, roadblocks, or demonstrations in the mentioned areas, despite some isolated incidents of protests.
According to the sources, 17 factories were closed on Monday in the Ashulia, Savar, Gazipur, and DMP areas.
Four factories were closed in Savar and Ashulia, and two were closed under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, which follows a “no work, no pay” rule.
In Gazipur, three of the six closed factories closed under Section 13(1) and the other three factories reopened but had to close again when workers refused to work or started protests.
In the DMP area, seven factories were declared closed after workers left.
Regarding the factory closure, an industry insider said that even during regular times, 10-20 factories may be closed due to various reasons among so many factories. Therefore, the closure of these factories nationally is not a big issue.
When asked why the fresh protests had started at the DMP area, the source said that Uniform Textile had some issues with paying wages, which led to the protests at that factory, which spread to the nearby units, and then they declared their factories closed.
The source further added that the BGMEA pressured the factory to arrange wages as soon as possible, and the factory confirmed they would pay wages on Tuesday, meaning the situation would soon be under control.
They have also constantly communicated with the army to maintain law and order.
Despite these closures, 98% of the 407 factories in Savar and Ashulia remained operational. In Gazipur, 99.31% of the 876 factories were functioning, and in the DMP area, 97.67% of 302 factories were operational.
Nationally, 99.20% of factories or 2,102 out of 2,144, factories operated normally.
The garment sector is the largest industrial sector in the country, with more than 2,000 factory units.
BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel said: “The situation has improved further, and we are hopeful that the existing situation will also be under control soon. A small number of factories were declared closed which is not a big issue for the bigger RMG sector. The BGMEA is working to resolve the issues.”
Last week, the RMG sector manufacturers stated that the protests have weakened the once-strong factories, leading to production halts. Several factories are facing financial difficulties, which may result in challenges with paying wages.
In a letter to the finance adviser on October 6, BGMEA President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam said that some larger groups are using revenue from their other factory units to cover the workers' wages and allowances.
"Approximately 39 factories are facing a production loss of almost 460 days due to protests, where a single factory faced a production loss of the highest 23 days. This has significantly impacted their financial stability. Therefore, we urgently require financial assistance in the form of soft loans from the government."
He also said that these 39 factories have nearly 60,000 workers. They requested a soft loan from the finance adviser to pay their workers’ wages within seven working days.
In the letter, he urged the finance adviser to arrange an interest-free soft loan for the 39 factories that were badly affected in order to pay wages worth Tk59 crore to their workers.