Authorities at seven garment factories in the Savar and Ashulia industrial belt have announced indefinite closures amid continuing labour unrest, and closure notices under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act have been posted at the plants.
The Daily Star reported the seven closures on 12 November, citing workers and industrial police sources.
The seven factories
Three factories belonging to the Arunima Group in Zirabo, Ashulia — Arunima Sports Wear Ltd, DMC Apparels Ltd and DMC Wash Ltd — closed indefinitely from 12 November.
Jeans Manufacturing Company Ltd, a garment factory in the Padma Mor area of Hemayetpur, Savar, was also closed under the same provision from 12 November.
Three factories of the Newage Group in Nishchintapur, Ashulia — Newage Garments Ltd, Newage Apparels Ltd and Keilock Newage Bangladesh Ltd — have remained closed indefinitely since 10 November. The Business Standard reported on 11 November that New Age units were among the factories already issued closure notices under Section 13(1).
What Section 13(1) allows
The provision permits an employer to close an establishment, wholly or partly, in the event of an illegal strike in any section or department. Workers who take part in the illegal strike are not entitled to wages for the period of the closure.
Confirming the closures, Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of police of Ashulia Industrial Police-1, told The Daily Star that discussions had been held with the factory authorities, and that the factories would reopen once the situation returned to normal.
Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, warned that invoking the provision could further aggravate tensions among workers. He said the clause can provoke unrest, and that workers receive no wages while a factory remains closed under it.
Mohammad Tariqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station, said around 11:30am that the situation had improved considerably. Workers from three to four more factories had again left their workplaces without working, he said, while production continued at the larger factories and the situation remained normal so far.
The dispute behind the closures
The shutdowns cap more than a week of disruption in the country’s largest export industry. Workers have been protesting since 31 October for a monthly minimum wage of Tk 30,000, up from the current Tk 12,500, The Daily Star reported on 6 November.
The government formed a six-member wage board on 1 November, and the board held its first meeting on 4 November, the newspaper reported. The Business Standard reported that unrest had eased in Gazipur, Mirpur and Narayanganj after the announcement that the new wage structure would take effect in December, but that tensions persist in parts of Ashulia and Savar.
Owners are now weighing a broader shutdown. At an emergency meeting on 11 November, industry leaders agreed to consider indefinitely closing 210 factories in Ashulia and other unrest-prone areas, with a formal decision due at a meeting of members on Saturday, The Business Standard reported. Around 143 factories in Ashulia, Jamgora and Hemayetpur were forced to suspend operations on 11 November, and the affected belt includes major manufacturers such as Ha-Meem, New Age, Ananta Garment, Starling, Envoy, Islam and Dekko, employing around 300,000 workers, according to BGMEA sources cited by the newspaper.
Owners say workers are entering factories but refusing to work, or leaving after marking attendance, and that some plants have been unable to operate for nearly two weeks. They are also concerned about export order commitments: production cannot easily be subcontracted, so closures could bring extra air-shipment costs or risk cancellations.
What to watch
Saturday’s meeting of factory owners will show whether Section 13(1) is applied well beyond the seven plants closed so far. Alongside that, the wage board’s revised structure — and whether it approaches the Tk 30,000 the workers are demanding — will determine whether the unrest subsides or escalates in the Ashulia and Savar belt.
Sources: The Daily Star (https://www.thedailystar.net/news/news/seven-garment-factories-savar-ashulia-shut-indefinitely-amid-labour-unrest-4321841 and https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/garment-unrest-eases-workers-return-work-4316816); The Business Standard (https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/rmg/rmg-owners-consider-indefinite-closure-210-ashulia-factories-1599926).
Image: Fahad Faisal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustration — a Bangladeshi garment factory floor, not the Ashulia or Savar plants closed in November 2026.