Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) made the decision to halt any new hiring until the ongoing unrest among existing workers in factories subsides.
This resolution was reached during a meeting convened at the BGMEA office in Uttara, Dhaka, with BGMEA President Faruque Hassan presiding over the session, and attendees including Atiqul Islam, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, and Abdus Salam Murshedy, a lawmaker and former BGMEA president.
In addition to the suspension of new recruitment, BGMEA leaders instructed member factories that have faced vandalism to file cases with nearby police stations, specifying the names of the workers responsible if available or implicating unnamed individuals if identities cannot be ascertained. Member factories were also urged to gather photos of protesting workers from video footage before initiating legal actions against them. The BGMEA emphasized that factory owners would be authorized to close their units under Section 13(1) of labor law if workers were found absent from their workplaces, choosing instead to engage in protests. Section 13(1) stipulates “no work, no pay.”
Furthermore, BGMEA leaders urged members to promptly collect video evidence of vandalism and worker demonstrations, instructing them to submit the footage to the BGMEA system analyst for use as evidence. Following the meeting, the BGMEA issued a letter to the owners, communicating these directives.
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