The labor situation in the Ashulia and Gazipur industrial belts saw improvement on Thursday, with most garment factories reopening and workers returning, aside from around 34 facilities.

However, tensions flared in the Zirani area of Gazipur, where clashes and vandalism erupted at two factories.

Sources said that the workers of the factories also blocked the Kalikoir-Nabinagar road for a period, but law enforcement agencies subsequently dispersed the crowd.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association senior vice-president Abdullah Hil Rakib, said that the situation had improved overall, with no major incidents, apart from some disturbances.

He said that while workers from two garment factories in Gazipur clashed and engaged in vandalism, the other factories were operational.

According to sources, workers from Radial International Limited in the Zirani area staged a demonstration to demand several grievances, at one point they asked workers from the adjacent Iris Fashions Limited to join them.

When the workers of Iris Fashions declined, the workers from Radial International vandalised their factory, prompting retaliatory actions from the Iris Fashions workers.

The agitated workers then blocked the Kalikoir-Nabinagar road until law enforcement intervened to disperse them.

Industry sources said that around 34 garment factories in Ashulia and Gazipur suspended operations on Thursday.

Of these, 23 units in Ashulia announced closures in accordance with labour law provision 13(1), which stipulates a ‘no work, no pay’ policy, while the remaining seven factories declared a paid holiday.

In Gazipur, four garment factories were reported to be non-operational.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Mohammad Hatem, alleged that outside instigators were behind the ongoing labour protests in Ashulia.

He claimed that a vested group within the country was inciting workers and spreading rumours, primarily to divert global buyers away from Bangladesh.