Worker unrest at DBL Group's garment unit over reduced pay

Angry workers of DBL Group have vandalised the company’s garment factory in Gazipur’s Kashimpur over reduced pay.

On Sunday, the authorities distributed 60 percent of the April salary among workers, an industry-wide move amid the coronavirus shutdown that sparked labour unrest.

The workers launched protests and vandalised the factory as they demanded full salaries on Monday.

A video showed about 50 workers throwing brickbats at the main entrance of the factory. The video was posted in the WhatsApp group of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and later deleted by a reporter.

The workers took out processions and gathered outside the factory in the morning, said Sushanto Sarker, an additional superintendent of industrial police.

The police and the owners tried to calm the disgruntled workers, but a group of protesters vandalised glasses, furniture, vehicles and CCTV cameras.

They left the site when the police began meeting with the owners around 2:30pm, Sushanto said.

The workers came to work on Monday, after receiving their partial salaries on Sunday, but they later started the protests, MA Rahim, vice-chairman of DBL Group, told bdnews24.com. 

“The government gave us a directive to pay 60 percent of the salary but they staged the protests for full salaries. The workers never worked for my factory from Mar 25 to Apr 26,” said Rahim.

“The government ordered us not to lay off the workers,” he said.

DBL Group has around 36,000 workers across its different factories with 24,000 working in the factory where the workers protested. More than 75 percent of the workers have been working in the factory despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis, said the owners.

Hundreds of workers have left their jobs but only 40 to 50 of them vandalised the factory, said Rahim. The authorities have identified those workers, he said.

Most of the garment factories in the country remained closed in April due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Ministry of Labour and Employment ordered the owners not to lay off the workers but pay them 60 percent of the salaries despite their absence. Later, it ordered employers to add 5 percent of payment to the May salary.

The government has given necessary funds to the garment factory owners with only 2 percent interest to pay the workers amid the financial crisis caused by the epidemic.