Follow-Up: At Least 40 Garment Factories in Savar and Ashulia Shut Indefinitely Amid Labour Unrest in Bangladesh
At least 40 garment factories in the Savar and Ashulia industrial areas of Bangladesh have been closed indefinitely amid labour unrest, while another five to six factories have declared general holidays after workers did not report for duty, The Business Standard reported on November 14. Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan of Ashulia Industrial Police-1 confirmed the closures around 9:45 a.m. on November 14 and said no untoward incidents had been reported in the industrial areas that day.
The factories were closed under Section 13(1) of the Labour Act, 2006, which enforces a no work, no pay policy, meaning workers receive no wages during the closure. Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, said invoking the provision could further fuel workers' anger and intensify the unrest, as they would not receive wages during the closures.
Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said on November 14 that 55 factories had already been closed under the provision and production had stopped at another 147 factories where workers did not work. He did not give a final count of how many would be closed from Sunday, saying the affected factories vary from day to day.
The unrest stems from uncertainty over the minimum wage. Garment workers have been protesting since October 31, demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka, up from the current 12,500 taka set in 2023. The government formed a six-member minimum wage board on November 1, and the board agreed on November 4 that a revised pay structure will apply from December and be paid from January 2027, with the amount still undecided. At the board's November 9 meeting, the workers' representative Babul Akhter proposed 32,000 taka for the minimum monthly wage. The next board meeting is scheduled for November 16.
Related: Nine Bangladesh garment factories shut indefinitely, some 20,000 workers affected
Source: The Business Standard (Bangladesh
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：孟加拉国服装制造商和出口商协会（BGMEA）在达卡就阿舒利亚服装厂危机举行讨论会的现场（资料图）。Press Information Department 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) discussion on the Ashulia garment factory crisis in Dhaka (file photo). By Press Information Department, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-11-14Follow-Up: At Least 40 Garment Factories in Savar and Ashulia Shut Indefinitely Amid Labour Unrest in BangladeshThis story
