Workers protest for unpaid dues at closed garment factories in Ashulia

Workers from three garment factories under the Mascot Group today staged a protest for unpaid dues outside their closed workplaces in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital.

The factories – Mascot Garments Ltd, Mascot Fashions Ltd, and Mascot Knits Ltd – were shut down in June, and workers claim they have not received their full service benefits.

The protest began at 8am, when over a hundred workers gathered outside the factory gates in the Jirabo area of Ashulia.

Industrial police later assured the workers that the issue would be resolved, and the protestors dispersed around noon.

Superintendent of Police Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan of Industrial Police-1 told TBS that police persuaded the workers to move away from the main gate.

This followed a similar protest on Monday, when workers blocked a road in the area for several hours.

The Mascot Group announced a temporary layoff for all three factories on 17 June, citing a shortage of work orders. A settlement was reached on 19 June at the office of Industrial Police-1 in Ashulia, promising to pay all workers with one or more years of service their dues in two instalments on 10 July and 10 August.

According to the workers, an initial payment was made in July, but the company failed to pay the remaining service benefits and other dues on 10 August as agreed.

When workers arrived at the factory on Monday, they found a new notice on the gate stating that the company could not pay the dues without selling the factories. The notice expressed hope that a sale would be finalised soon and that the remaining payments would be made by 10 September.