Garment owners warned on Saturday that they could shut factories indefinitely without paying workers from Sunday if protests continued to halt production, questioning the unrest as negotiations over a new minimum wage move forward.
The warning came as production remained disrupted at 147 factories employing around three lakh workers in Savar, Ashulia, and Gazipur. Of those, 55 were already closed under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, while another 92 could not operate on Saturday.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mahmud Hasan Khan announced the decision at a joint press conference with the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) in Uttara, following a meeting attended by more than 1,000 factory owners.
The labour law section allows owners to close factories where workers refuse to work, with no wages payable during the shutdown.
Khan said further closures would depend on conditions at individual factories, making their number difficult to predict.
The move raises the stakes ahead of Monday’s third Minimum Wage Board meeting, when employers are due to submit their written wage proposal.
Khan warned that BGMEA would consult its leaders on whether to continue participating in negotiations if unrest persisted.
Workers’ representatives proposed raising the minimum monthly wage to Tk32,000 at the board’s second meeting on 9 November, compared with the current Tk12,500.
The government promptly formed the board on 1 November, with a revised wage structure expected to take effect from 1 January 2027.
Workers demanding higher pay have staged protests and work stoppages across the three industrial belts.
Some reported for duty but refused to work, while disturbances prevented production elsewhere, threatening working days and earnings at affected factories, according to owners.
Owners warned that prolonged disruption could raise costs, delay export shipments and damage relationships with international buyers.
BGMEA and BKMEA leaders alleged that outsiders were encouraging a section of workers to obstruct production, prevent colleagues from working and attack neighbouring factories.
They claimed most workers wanted to return to work but were being prevented from doing so.
Khan questioned why protests had continued after the wage board was formed, noting that disturbances began in the final week of October.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed made similar allegations on 4 November, describing the violence as politically motivated rather than solely a labour movement.
He accused politically connected groups, including some factory owners and former Awami League lawmakers and ministers, of orchestrating unrest, with outsiders allegedly exploiting workers’ grievances to carry out attacks on factories.
The dispute has also exposed a sharp divide between workers’ wage expectations and employers’ assessment of what factories can afford.
BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem told TIMES that raising the minimum wage to the initially demanded level of Tk30,000 would be financially unfeasible.
“In Bangladesh, even a graduate textile engineer enters a factory at Tk20,000 a month. How can an owner pay an inexperienced worker that much?” he said.
Hatem said that the minimum wage had risen from Tk5,300 in 2013 to Tk8,000 in 2018 and Tk12,500 in 2023, a cumulative increase of about 136 per cent over a decade.
He compared this with a 100–140 per cent pay rise for government employees over a similar period, arguing that most other industrial sectors, apart from steel and shipbreaking, paid considerably less in minimum wage.
According to Hatem, no more than 17 per cent of garment workers receive the minimum wage, while experienced machine operators typically earn Tk20,000–Tk25,000 a month, alongside regular increments.
Labour leaders, meanwhile, have urged workers to resume production and allow the wage board to complete its work, warning that factory closures could deepen the crisis.
At a joint press conference on Friday, five labour organisation alliances called for restraint and urged both workers and employers to keep negotiations open.
IndustriALL Bangladesh Council President Mir Abul Kalam Azad delivered their joint statement, cautioning workers against outside provocation and calling for a negotiated settlement.
The government has also urged workers to return to work, with the Border Guard Bangladesh deployed at the affected industrial belts.
With Monday’s wage talks approaching, further shutdowns threaten workers’ incomes and factories’ ability to meet export commitments, said factory owner leaders.
