Bangladesh: Factory announces closure after 1500 workers protest demanding payment of the minimum wage & allowances
"Garment factory announced closed in Ashulia", 15 January 2024
Due to a two-day strike by workers for various demands, including an increase in salary and bonus, a garment factory named Irish Fashion Limited was shut down indefinitely on Monday.
As a result, about 1,500 workers protested in front of the factory in the Jirabo area of Ashulia...
The workers demanded the implementation of a government wage structure, Eid bonus, maternity leave allowance, overtime bill (after 5pm), payment of annual leave, rate to workers, and identity cards etc.
Linking Operator Md Zakir said: “The government has increased the wages due to the movement of garment workers. But the sweater factory workers are deprived of that salary. So we were peacefully protesting at the factory for the last two days for our various logical demands. On Sunday, when the factory authorities assured us to accept our demand, we went home. But when we came to the factory this morning, we saw a closure notice hanging on the gate of the factory for an indefinite period.”
Another worker named Emdad said: “The admin officer of the factory, Mohammad Ripon sir, misbehaved with us during the protest and later we demanded his resignation. The senior officials assured us to accept our demand. But today we found that the factory has been shut down.”
Another admin officer of Irish Fashion Limited, Md Mokhles, could not be reached for comments.