The labour unrest that broke out in Ashulia in late August and spilled over to Gazipur has put enormous impacts on the billion-dollar garment industry, according to sector insiders.
The impacts include shift in work orders to other places inside and outside the country and also a halt in massive investment plans.
Entrepreneurs are now struggling to cope with the production deadline and costs as many apparel factories have to suspend operations in fear of vandalism.
Some of them have to renegotiate with their buyers for deferment or air shipments, they noted.
Talking to the FE, an official at a textile group said their company halted the investment plan though structure is ready in Bhulta area of Narayanganj.
"We are not installing the machinery at this moment mainly because of the labour unrest to wait and watch what will be happening," he noted.
Mohammed Sohel, managing director of Bangla Poshak Ltd, said due to three days' protest by TNZ workers, he was likely to send some of his shipments by air if he failed to produce them in a couple of days.
"My workers did overtime on Thursday and worked on Friday to meet the deadline," he said, adding that these have a negative impact on their productivity too.
Mr Sohel said all these might have an additional cost up to Tk 0.7 million.
Buyers, mostly non-branded ones, are taking advantage of the situation by offering low rate or asking for discount, he noted.
Mahmud Hasan Khan, managing director of the Rising Group, said the loss they have incurred due to the labour unrest is not recoverable though buyers give some time or flexibility for delay and air shipments.
"We met the deadline by shifting the orders to my other factories in other places," he said, adding that one of his factories located in Ashulia had to suspend production due to the unrest.
Buyers have a negative notion about placing work orders in factories in Ashulia as labour unrest takes place here.
"If buyers have any option to shift to other location, they will move," he opined.
When asked, Khan Monirul Alam Shubho, managing director of the Fashion.com Ltd, said that in September buyers shifted a certain portion of work orders to other factories mainly to reach goods to their stores.
Even entrepreneurs will not want to invest in the industrial zones of Ashulia where from labour unrest started due to high occupancy of factories, labour intensiveness, trade unions and investigators.
The existing factories might not be relocated overnight due to the availability of gas connection, labour and others. But some of them are downsizing the capacity, he added.
About five per cent monthly labour migration is very common while the rate is currently up to 10 per cent and many of the factories are not recruiting new workers as they plan to run with the existing capacity, Mr Shubho noted.
Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, said the factories affected due to labour unrest either perform their orders in their other units located outside Ashulia or Gazipur, even in Chattogram, or subcontract work to other factories mainly to meet the deadline or avoid air shipments. It is very usual to inter-transfer the orders in a crisis situation, he noted.
Talking to the FE, a number of exporters said a factory might have an internal problem but, based on this, a section of the workers was attacking other factories, carrying out vandalism and inciting their workers by spreading rumours.
The agreement between representatives from owners and workers on 18-point demands failed to stop such recurrence of protests.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) claims that the clothing industry has suffered a production loss of $400 million due to the labour unrest that continued until early October.
Some 39 affected factories were unable to pay wages for September because of the labour unrest, leading the BGMEA to request interest-free bank loans on easy terms from the government to support them.
According to Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), 96 incidents of labour unrest took place in the country's major garment industrial belts, mostly in Ashulia and Gazipur, from January to September 2024.
A majority or 39 incidents of labour protests took place over dues while 22 over various other demands, the BILS data show.
The institute recorded eight incidents of workers' protests over opening of closed units, 13 over payment of bonus, five over deaths of workers and the remaining nine over other demands.
Talking to the FE, Amirul Haque Amin, a labour leader, said some incidents of protest like that of TNZ took place mainly because of the ignorance of factory owners and agitation spread into other nearby factories.
"The government should take strict measures against the factory owners, who are not paying wages, and arrest them," he noted.
Unless the government and the BGMEA take strict measures against such acts, no peaceful situation could be expected in the country's largest foreign currency-earning sector, he said, adding that timely wage payment is most important for workers. Nazma Akter, president of the Sammilito Garments Sramik Federation, said the labour unrest took place mainly because of political shift, control over jhut or garment waste trade, allowance and other reasons. Unrest has negative impact both on industry and its business while workers also left no choice as they are not paid despite repeated commitments, she said.
Blacklisting of workers is yet to stop while cases against workers are not withdrawn, she noted.
According to BGMEA sources, eight factories in Gazipur and Mymensingh areas and two in Savar-Ashulia-Zirani area remained closed on Saturday over the labour unrest.
Five of the trade body's members did not pay wages for September and August while 11.11 per cent or 232 BGMEA listed units yet to pay wages for October until Saturday.
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