Workers protest again after closure of 8 Pacific Group factories in Chattogram EPZ

Workers have protested again following the closure of eight factories belonging to the Pacific Jeans Group in the Chattogram EPZ.

On Saturday, workers from multiple factories gathered and demonstrated outside their facilities in the EPZ area around 9:00 am.

Later, the workers dispersed after holding discussions with the police and EPZ authorities, according to a bdnews24.com report.

EPZ Executive Director Abdus Sobhan said that several Pacific factories had been closed and many workers were unaware of this. They arrived on Saturday morning to report for work and then launched demonstrations demanding the reopening of these factories.

EPZ Police Station chief Mohammed Jamir Hossain Zia said that various Pacific factories were closed starting Saturday morning. Up to 800 workers gathered in the morning. They later left after speaking with the police and the authorities.

The management declared the closure of the group's eight factories on Thursday night in response to worker protests.

The factories closed are Pacific Jeans-1, Pacific Jeans-2, Pacific Attire, Pacific Accessories, Pacific Workwears, Universal Jeans, HT Fashion, and Jeans 2000.

On October 9, some members of the Pacific Group held a protest after alleging police harassment. Protests also took place in several factories on Oct 14.

The following day, protests occurred at all factories of the group, but there were no reports of violence.

On Thursday, in addition to the protests at all factories, there were reports of factory officials being "beaten” by workers.