Apparel factory Young One Sports and High Tech Ltd, in the old zone of the Dhaka export processing zone at Ashulia in Dhaka, was closed on Thursday for an indefinite period over daylong rally of workers for higher wages and protest at torture of workers.
The workers and the police said 7,000 factory workers went to work in the morning and found a notice which said the factory had been closed for an indefinite period.
The workers then went out on demonstrations at the announcement of the factory closure. The police later controlled the situation.
EPZ sources said Young One High Tech and the Young One Sportswear Ltd, two units of the factory, had 7,000 workers.
The workers said the management prepared a new wage sheet but their wages had not been increased in keeping with the new wage structure.
Some other workers alleged the authorities had repressed the workers and some officers even threatened to terminate their job.
The factory’s administrative officer Md Habibullah Khan said, ‘As we failed to resolve the matter after discussion, we announced to closure.’
The Ashulia police officer-in-charge, Sirajul Islam, said additional policemen had been deployed in and around the factory to stave off further trouble.
‘The workers rallied for their demands on Wednesday and as a discussion between the workers and the management failed to resolve the matter, the authorities closed the factory,’ he said.
