Labour unrest leads Nassa Garments to shut all units

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FE Report
Nassa Garments, one of the country's leading apparel manufacturer, has locked out all its production units from Wednesday following labour unrest.
The fresh labour unrest at the garments located at Tejgaon industrial area started October 18 when the workers demanded release of Marzina, a labour leader, who was arrested two days before Eid festival.
Managing Director of the Nassa Garments Nazrul Islam Swapan told the FE that they were forced to lock out all of their four apparel units at the Tejgaon area from Wednesday.
"We, alongwith the BGMEA tried to resolve the problems and tried to continue our operation but the workers did not return to their work Tuesday. We, thus, lawfully locked out our factories," he added.
Around 2000 workers are employed in the four units and the production capacity of the units varies between 12000 and 15000 pieces each day depending on the style of the clothing.
Sources at the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told the FE that it took steps to resolve the unrest which had been continuing over the past few days centering the arrest of one of its leaders.
"We also assured that there will be no further arrests once they join to their work," said BGMEA leader.
"Even though we assured the labour leaders to solve all the issues through discussions, but they did not come forward. We waited for them at the BGMEA office until late night," said president of the BGMEA Anowarul Alam Chowdhury Pervez.
Labour unrest at DEPZ
Meanwhile UNB news from Savar adds: Workers at Shanta Industries Ltd., one of the largest export-oriented industries in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), struck work Wednesday to press home their 8-point demands, including "unconditional" release of their arrested colleagues.
Police and sources concerned said before Eid-ul-Fitr, the workers ransacked the factory over festival leave. Later, a case was filed against over 50 workers and six of them were arrested.
The labour unrest re-erupted today as the owners sacked one worker named Kancheon and handed him over to police.