Workers Awaiting to Return to Work as Factory Owners Announce Reopening in a Few Days

News Desk    |    ০৬:২৩ পিএম, ২০২৫-০২-১১

Two units of Pacific Casuals Limited, a subsidiary of Pacific Jeans Group in Chittagong, have been closed for the past two days. On the first day of the closure (Monday), there was a clash between workers in front of the factory. While there were concerns of further unrest the following day, the area remained silent from Tuesday morning as the factory remained locked.

The workers have stated that they have received assurances from the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) regarding the factory's reopening. Therefore, they did not go to work today (Tuesday) but plan to return tomorrow (Wednesday). However, there has been no statement from the management regarding the reopening.

On Tuesday (February 11), it was found on-site that after the clash between workers on Monday, law enforcement agencies intervened to control the situation. Following this, the Executive Director of the Chittagong EPZ (Export Processing Zone) spoke with the workers. Subsequently, most of the workers left the CEPAZ area. As of noon on Tuesday, no workers from Pacific Casuals had arrived inside the EPZ.

Mohammad Sakib, a worker in the cutting department of Pacific Casuals, said, "Yesterday (Monday), BEPZA informed us that they had spoken to the management. The management has informed us that the factory will reopen in a few days. We were told not to go to the factory today but to come tomorrow. So, none of us went today. We will all go tomorrow."

Abdus Sobhan, the Executive Director of CEPAZ, said, "Seeing the workers' protest at Pacific Casuals, we spoke to the factory's owner. They informed us that the factory will reopen in a couple of days. Based on this, we advised the workers to take one day off and come the next day."

Attempts to reach Syed Mohammad Tahmid, the Managing Director of Pacific Casuals Limited, for comments on the matter were unsuccessful despite multiple calls on Tuesday morning. Earlier, on February 9, the management of Pacific Casuals Limited had announced the closure of two units of the company.

In a notice signed by the Senior Manager of the Human Resources and Administration Department of the factory, it was stated that due to workers unlawfully stopping work and raising unfair demands, the authorities had decided to close the factory indefinitely from February 10 (Monday) under Section 12(1) of the EPZ Labor Law, 2019. All activities in the factory would remain suspended until further notice.