A segment of garment factories affiliated with RMG entrepreneurs’ lobbies, BGMEA and BKMEA, have resumed operations on a limited scale on Sunday amid a nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak.
The BGMEA has set a 30 per cent attendance (maximum) target for the factories opening on Sunday while the BKMEA has advised its members to only open knitting, dyeing, and sample sections, which will also require at least 30 per cent attendance.
But the factories are only calling up workers living in close proximity to the units as the relaunch guidelines advise against bringing back distant workers at this time, reports bdnews24.com.
Asked about the number of factories that reopened on Sunday, BGMEA Vice President Faisal Samad said: "We are not doing anything in a hurry; everything is being done slowly. On the first day, about two hundred factories in and around Dhaka have made preparations to restart work with a small number of workers.”
“The factories will fully reopen from May 2, said BKMEA Vice President Mohammad Hatem, adding: "Workers who are living far away have been barred from attending work at the moment."
In a directive sent to its members, the BGMEA outlined the different phases through which the factories will gradually increase capacity.
In the first phase, only workers living in the vicinity of the relevant factories will be allowed to return to work. From April 26 to May 2, only 30 per cent of the total workers can be present in the factories. Based on the results, the factories will later be allowed to recall up to 50 per cent of its workers.
Workers cannot be brought to Dhaka from villages, said the directive. BGMEA also requested the factory owners not to lay off workers.
Meanwhile, the workers' organisations have reiterated their stand against the reopening of factories.
"Currently, we are facing a bigger humanitarian crisis than 1971," said Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, coordinator of the Movement for Garment Workers' Rights.
"How can factories stay open when there is no guarantee of human life? We demand a three-month holiday for the workers and we want the government to take care of the salaries," he added.
