The readymade garment factories in and around Dhaka were allegedly forced to shut down on Saturday afternoon so that the workers could attend a rally in the capital, RMG workers and owners said.
Labour leaders arranged transportation so that the workers could travel from their workplaces to the rally venue at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The Garment Workers Coordination Council (Garments Sramik Samannay Parishad) organised the grand rally with Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan in the chair.
Several thousand garment workers including those from 52 organisations attended the rally that began around 3pm. Many of them were wearing headbands with “Garment Sramik Samannay Parishad” inscriptions.
The rally follows the ruling Awami League’s initiatives to woo women workers by countering the campaign against them of Hefazat-e-Islam’s spiritual leader Shah Ahmad Shafi, who preached that women should not go out of home for work or shopping.
The campaign was greeted with protests with women rights bodies. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while inaugurating a multi-storey dormitory for women workers in Ashulia industrial zone on September 1 alerted the garment workers about the propaganda of “BNP, Jamaat and Hefazat” against the present government. She alleged that the parties were misguiding people in the name of religion.
Calling upon the RMG workers to vote for the Awami League in the next general election, she said the female garment workers might lose their job if “the unholy alliance” led by the BNP come to power.
The similar sentiment was echoed at on Saturday’s rally, where a number of speakers came down hard on the Hefazat chief.
They labelled Shafi “shameless” as he had no contribution to the country’s economy and also called upon the Hefazat chief to apologise for his offensive remarks about the female garment workers.
The workers said confining the women, who constitute a major portion of the workforce in the country’s apparel making industry, was not possible.
Minister Shahjahan Khan, who is also a labour leader, urged the garment workers to bring the pro-independence force to power again.
Conducted by labour leader Nazma Akhter and Rahima Akhter Sathi, the rally was also addressed by Shaikhul Hadis Maulana Moniruzzaman Rabbani, Shirin Akhter, Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, JM Kamrul Anam and Touhidur Rahman Touhid.
Seeking anonymity, the owner of a factory in the capital’s Tejgaon area, told the Dhaka Tribune that policemen had come to his factory around noon and asked the manager to let go the workers off so that they could join the rally.
He also said when the manager had wanted to know the reason, the police told him that it was an order from the higher authorities.
However, Apurbo Hasan, officer-in-charge of the police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that the allegations were totally baseless and that they had not asked anyone to close factories.
Some workers from a number of factories in Gazipur said they had been instructed to not join work after lunch and attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, the workers of several factories in Kaliakoir of Gazipur demonstrated by blocking road and vandalising vehicles, demanding one-day leave for the rally. At one stage, more than 300 garment factories in the area shut production down.
“We announced one-day leave on security grounds because a group of unruly workers gave rise to violence in the area,” said Abdur Rahim, admin manager of Pandora Group.
A worker of the Mirpur’s Pioneer Garments expressed his dissent at the “double standard” that the factory owners were maintaining.
“The owner of my factory was not willing to raise our wages by even Tk600. But today [Saturday], they closed the factories so that we could attend a rally that raised the demand for Tk8,000 monthly wage. It is more than surprising,” he said.
Another worker from the Karnaphuli Garments in the capital’s Green Road expressed same fears.
“I do not know what they [the owners] are up to, but I can easily guess that we are being played out by politicians once again,” he said. BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune: “The workers participated in the rally on their own. The BGMEA neither asked them to nor prohibited them from joining the programme.”
However, seeking anonymity, a BGMEA high official said: “The sector will suffer a loss of around Tk15m due to the forced closures. We are already having trouble in meeting the shipment targets because of hartal and labour unrest. Such untoward closure will make it even tougher.”
On the other hand, Siraul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh Garments Workers Employee League, claimed: “We did not force anybody to join the meeting. The workers joined the rally willingly.”
However, not all the workers heeded their leaders’ order. Many preferred not to take the trouble of join the rally.
Moreover, a good number of vehicles carrying workers from many garment factories got stuck in a long traffic tailback. Many such vehicles were seen stuck on the road even hours after the rally had ended.
