NASSA Group鈥檚 16 factories located in Dhaka, Gazipur, Chattogram and Cumilla export processing zone are going to be shut permanently today.
The decision of the closure of the factories was made at a tripartite meeting on Tuesday.
The decision sparked protests by workers who blocked Bypile-Abdullahpur highway, demanding payment of dues on Wednesday morning, triggering a clash with police.
Abdul Hannan, officer-in-charge of the Ashulia police station at Savar, told reporters that police used water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse workers from the highway.
The situation on the highway became normal after one hour of traffic suspension, he said.
Arif Ahmed Khan, an additional inspector at the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, chaired Tuesday鈥檚 meeting held at the DIFE headquarters in the capital Dhaka.
Representatives from the Bangladesh Army, Industrial Police-01, intelligence agencies, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, factory owners and workers attended the meeting, according to meeting sources.
A participant in the tripartite meeting told 抖阴精品 that the decision to shut down the factories had been made.
He also said that NASSA Group authorities would clear all outstanding wages and benefits of the workers within the deadlines set at the meeting.
More than 12,000 workers are employed at the 16 factories of NASSA Group.
The 16 factories scheduled for closure include AJ Super Garments, Firoza Garments, MAM Garments, NASSA Embroidery, NASSA Super Garments, NASSA Super Wash, NASSA Super Wash Unit-2, Native Packaging, NASSA Basic, NASSA聽 Hi-Tech Wash (Ashulia, Savar), Lease Apparels, Lease Wash (Gazipur), MNC Apparels, Toywoods BD Co (Chattogram EPZ), and NASSA Spinners and NASSA Spinning (Cumilla EPZ).
As per the memorandum of understanding signed at the meeting, workers would receive their dues for August by October 15 and for September by October 30.
Moreover, the management would pay 30 days鈥� basic wages as notice pay, provide service benefits of 30 days鈥� basic wages for every completed year of service (subject to a minimum of 240 days鈥� attendance per year), settle maternity leave benefits according to the Bangladesh Labour Act, and pay earned leave, if there is any.
All payments, including termination benefits for previously laid-off workers, must be completed by November 30, as stated in the MoU.
The memo also stated that all workers would be provided with employment certificates and that no worker would be blacklisted on the internet or in any database.
The MoU also warned the authorities that failure to implement these decisions would result in legal action under the labour laws.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Labour and Employment also issued a statement regarding the payment of wages and allowances of the workers of the factories.
The statement said that the tripartite agreement followed the recommendations made by the 13th meeting of the advisory council on labour and business conditions for industrial establishments at the Beximco Industrial Park on September 16.
Since the fall of the authoritarian Awami League government in August 2024 in a mass uprising, NASSA Group has been mired in a prolonged crisis.
The factory units under the group witnessed a series of worker unrest over the past year.
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, who founded NASSA Group in 1990, was a former chairman of EXIM Bank and president of the Bangladesh Association of Banks.
After the fall of the AL regime, Bangladesh Bank removed him and his wife, Nasreen Islam, from the EXIM Bank board on August 29, 2024, and he was later arrested on October 2.
Nazrul was placed on remand in various cases filed on different charges, including murder, corruption, and money laundering. He is now in jail.
On September 21, NASSA Group signed a draft power of attorney to initiate the sale of several properties to pay the workers鈥� dues for the current month.
The group鈥檚 liquidity crunch worsened as banks stopped opening letters of credit and buyers delayed orders, leading to delayed wage payments and unrests.
On several occasions over the past few months, thousands of workers blocked roads at Ashulia, demanding payments of unpaid salaries and forcing temporary factory shutdowns.