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DEPZ factory tried in vain to resume production |
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May 7, 2000
Savar, May 6 (UNB)- The owners of the troubled Ring Shine Textile today tried in vain to resume production as many of the factory workers refrained from joining duties for fear of arrest. An executive of the Singapore-Malaysian joint-venture sweater factory today (Saturday) said they had already asked their workers to join work. Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) sources said the company tried to reopen the factory, closed May 3 following a violent clash that left two dead and scores of others injured, bringing some 100 workers from its other establishment at Tongi. But operation could not resume, as all the necessary departments could not be manned adequately. The factory in the exclusive economic zone employs more than 1400 workers. All the rest industrial units in DEPZ are functioning as usual.
Management-workers conflict took an ugly turn on May 3 leading to a fierce clash between workers and police in the exclusive economic zone, 30 km off the city, that houses some 46 completely export-oriented industrial units. Two people were shot dead and many others injured in the worst-ever incident in DEPZ since it was launched in 1983. Factory management terminated 33 workers last month allegedly for their involvement in labour agitation for wage rise, sparking off May 3 incident. Law restricts workers’ association in the country’s nascent special economic zones based mainly on foreign direct investment (FDI). Police so far have arrested six workers under the Public Safety Act following a case filed by factory authority suing some 100 workers for the violence. Many workers went into hiding to avert arrest in the wake of police hunt following the troubles in the Dhaka Export Processing Zone. BDR and police reinforcements have been deployed in the DEPZ since May 3, restricting entry in the exclusive economic zone.
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