The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has given a directive to halt all forms of recruitment across the country’s garment factories following a meeting on Thursday.

The decision was taken during a coordination meeting organised to discuss the overall situation of the sector following the Covid-19 pandemic, war related economic crisis, ongoing workers protest and other issues.

The meeting held at the BGMEA headquarters was chaired by BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and details of the decisions were later conveyed to member garment owners through an official letter.

According to the BGMEA letter, “From now on, it is mandatory for every garment factory to display a banner at its entrance gate bearing the words ‘No recruitment’.”

SM Mannan Kochi, senior vice president of BGMEA told TBS, “Factory owners have asked BGMEA to stop recruitment, that is why the association took the decision. There will be no new recruitment till the situation [workers protest] cools down.”

He said, “There is a lack of work orders in some factories. And there is a lack of workers in factories which have orders. Either workers are not coming to work, or they are refusing to work even after coming to the factory. So, the factory is incurring a loss due to lack of production, but they are having to pay the workers’ salaries as well.

“That is why factory owners do not want to keep the factories open, nor do they want to spend more money on hiring people,” he added.

Regarding global brands pledging to share the burden of the minimum wage hike SM Mannan Kochi said the reality is different.

“Only 10% buyers are willing to pay the raised price of products, the rest are not,” he said adding, “Half of the factory owners cannot afford to pay the new minimum wage of Tk12,500.”

The decision was taken to reduce loss, it was not the intention of the owners to threaten the workers through this step of halting recruitment, said the BGMEA senior vice-president.

However, the labour leaders do not agree with such a statement of the owners.

Nazma Akter, president of Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation told TBS, “Halting employment or closing factories is not a solution. How will their factory run if recruitment is stopped?”

She thinks that this decision of the owners has been taken for the purpose of scaring the workers.

She said, “The financial loss incurred by the factory owners by keeping the factory closed for one day is higher than what they would have to pay to increase the salary.”

This labor leader said, “The owners have the opportunity to go to the upper level, but there is no one to listen to the workers.”

The BGMEA letter sent to factory owners also states, “In instances where factories have experienced incidents of fire, theft, or violence, they are required to file a case at the nearby police station. This should include supporting evidence such as photos and video footage. If the identities of the accused individuals are unknown, they may be listed as unknown assailants.”

A copy of the case must be forwarded to the senior additional secretary of BGMEA after its filing.

The meeting was attended by former BGMEA President and Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Md Atiqul Islam, former BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy, and Senior Vice President and Director of BGMEA SM Mannan (Kochi), among others.

For factories where workers refrain from working, leave the premises or go beyond limits, the owners are instructed to adhere to Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, which mandates the closure of such garment factories, which means no work, no pay.

Regarding the closure under Article 13/1 of the labour law, BGMEA Senior Vice President SM Mannan Kochi said, “Owners don’t want to accept losses on both sides [lack of production, paying workers’ salaries]. That is why they will keep the factory closed by announcing a holiday and not pay the workers for those days [when workers boycott work].”

He said, on Thursday, no work was done in more than 100 factories in some parts of Ashulia and Gazipur.

There have been ongoing protests by RMG workers in parts of the country following the announcement of the new minimum wage on 7 November.

The Minimum Wage Board for the readymade garments sector finalised the increase of RMG workers’ minimum wage to Tk12,500 from Tk8,000, an increase of 56% on Tuesday (8 November).

RMG workers rejected this decision and demanded reforming the Minimum Wage Board to increase their salary further.

The garments sector — the jewel in Bangladesh’s export crown, with exports reaching over $46.99 billion in the fiscal year 2023 — was ravaged by protests in recent weeks centring a hike in the minimum wage.

On 30 October, at least two people were killed and about 40 injured in massive clashes between police and ready-made garment workers in several industrial areas in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur.

Following the weeklong clashes, the factory owners on 1 November agreed to pay higher minimum wages to garment workers than Tk10,400, which they proposed earlier.