The government is being asked for more than Taka 58.61 crore in soft loans by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in order to support 39 garment firms that have been negatively affected by recent labour unrest. The BGMEA made clear in a letter dated October 6th that these factories—which collectively employ over 56,000 people—urgently require financial support in order to fulfil their pay obligations.
Dekko Legacy Group, a relatively new company with two production facilities in Ashulia, is one of the impacted exporters. The group’s monthly production of woven clothes amounts to over 90,000, with an estimated export value of $15 million. The preceding month, according to Managing Director Kalpan Hossain, was “abnormal,” citing security issues that restricted manufacturing operations to just three days in September. With a monthly payroll of between Taka 25 crore and Taka 27 crore, the business has asked for a soft loan to assist in paying the salaries of its 5,810 workers.
AR Jeans Producer Ltd., a denim factory in Ashulia that is LEED certified and has an annual export value of almost $120 million, has likewise had difficulty sustaining operations. Despite the fact that neither the business nor its employees had committed any violation, Managing Director Nazmul Kabir stated that the unrest caused the factory to stop operations for a total of 12 days. In order to pay its 2,518 workers’ salaries for September, the plant is currently looking for a soft loan.
The managing director of SM Sourcing, a different manufacturer, Mirza Shams Mahamud, stated that Mango Tex, one of its divisions, was unable to function for nineteen days last month. Export earnings experienced a sharp decline as a result of this interruption, going from $1.8 million in August to $0.7 million in September. The firm, which employs 865 people, has requested for a soft loan to guarantee that worker salaries be paid.
The labour unrest in the industrial zones of Savar, Ashulia, and Gazipur negatively impacted approximately 200 RMG enterprises, with some of them stopping operations for as long as 23 days, according to BGMEA. It is become harder for smaller firms to maintain pay, even though larger enterprises might be able to do so with their own resources.
According to its managing director during a recent BGMEA meeting, Ha-Meem Group, which employs over 75,000 people and has a monthly salary expenditure surpassing Taka 100 crore, is having difficulty fulfilling September payroll payments.
However, after almost two months of instability, RMG manufacturing activities have essentially restarted at full capacity, with important industrial zones in Savar, Ashulia, and Gazipur running properly once more. This is a welcome step. On a recent Monday, there were just nine plants reported to be closed. According to BGMEA data, 99.58 percent of factories (2,135 out of 2,144) were operating without any problems nationwide.
