Factories in Bangladesh shut down following protests: police

More than 80 factories in Bangladesh closed on Wednesday, including in the key garment sector, over security fears as protests hit industrial areas near the capital Dhaka, police said.

The closures come as the new interim government seeks to reassure investors after mass student-led protests that toppled ex-premier Sheikh Hasina last month.

Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports but the unrest last month resulted in significant disruption to the linchpin industry.

Maintaining supply chains for the garment trade is one of the major challenges faced by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate asked to lead an interim government after Hasina fled to India on August 5.

Hundreds of people protested in front of factories on Wednesday morning demanding jobs and better pay, prompting several other factories in the industrial districts of Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur to shut for security reasons.

“Workers of some factories… started protesting and calling fellow workers from other factories to join the protest,” said Sarwar Alam, a senior officer in the industrial police unit in Ashulia and Savar, told AFP.

Alam said “around 80 factories” then told workers to take a day off.

Union leader Taslima Akhter said some demands made by the workers were “just” but also said elements were seeking to stir up trouble to “utilise the opportunity of discontent”.

Protesters made a range of demands including better overtime pay, as well as for more men to be hired in a female-dominated industry.

Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said some demands were “illogical”.

Those included demands to quadruple overtime payments and for an equal ratio of men to women in factories, he said.

“If they come with just demands, we can discuss this on the table but they are taking to the streets instead,” said Hatem, blaming “interest groups” wanting to damage the industry, without giving further details.

Workers from other industries, including pharmaceutical, ceramics and leather factories, also held protests, police said.

“Protesters blocked the roads in two places in Gazipur area and hurled bricks,” said Emran Ahmmed, a police officer in the Gazipur Industrial zone.

Bangladesh is the world’s second-biggest exporter of clothing by value after China and supplies many of the world’s top brands, including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.