Khulna jute mills workers resume production

Workers of nine state-owned jute mills in Khulna, who took to the streets to protest the government decision to shut down public jute factories, have resumed work.

They rejoined the production lines on Wednesday morning.      

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) Liaison Officer Boniz Uddin Mia said the mills are in full swing operations in two shifts – 6:00am to 10:00am and 10:00am to 2:00pm.     

The jute mills in the south western district of Bangladesh have nearly 8,000 permanent employees while at least 2,000 labourers work at the production lines on a temporary basis.

The government on Sunday formally announced that it was likely to stop operating the state-owned jute mills under the BJMC on July 1, and that around 25,000 workers would leave their workplace with a "golden handshake".

In Khulna, more than 10,000 workers took position in front of their respective mills on Monday to protest the decision. The workers also announced an indefinite hunger strike from Wednesday afternoon.

However, they called off the programmes as no government announcement regarding factory closure reached Khulna until Tuesday evening.

In another development on Wednesday, the Khulna chapter of the National Workers Federation formed a human chain protesting the government decision.

Labour leaders at the programme said workers are not responsible for the reoccurring losses of the factories.     

"The government's policy is responsible for it. The mills will turn profitable if corruption can be stopped. The mills must be modernised," they further said, adding that layoffs or factory closures would not be tolerated.      

Workers Party central leader Dipankar Saha, Platinum Jubilee Jute Mill collective bargaining agent leader Khalilur Rahman and Faruk Ahmed addressed the human chain among others.