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NASSA Mainland Garments will resume its operations from Wednesday (April 8) and pay March wages on April 12.
The decision came at an emergency meeting, a day after workers’ road blockade demanding the same, headed by labour and employment minister Ariful Haque Choudhury, held on Monday at his secretariat office in the city, meeting sources said.
The factory has been shut since last Eid due to financial constraints.
Some 700 workers of Nassa Mainland blocked the Tejgaon Link Road at Mohakhali and Nabisco areas on Sunday, which prompted the government's intervention to resolve the issue.
After assurance from the minister of holding an emergency meeting over their demands on Monday, workers withdrew their blockade, sources said.
The factory also informed the meeting that wages for March would be paid on April 8, they added.
While presiding over the Monday meeting, the labour minister said the government’s priority is to keep factories operational for the greater interest of employment.
He assured all out support from the ministry in line with the law and also called on workers to cooperate with the factory management by working an additional hour daily to keep production momentum.
The minister also advised the factory management not to harass any worker or employee under any circumstances.
Speaking at the meeting, Mahdi Amin, adviser to the Prime Minister, said no operational factory run by board of directors can be shut in absence of any individual or legal complexities.
He stressed time-befitting measures for the welfare of workers.
Earlier, workers’ representatives at the meeting sought government intervention to keep the factory operational and pledged production at high level.
Highlighting the financial and bank-related complications faced by the company, NASSA Group vice chairman Ranjan Chowdhury sought the ministry’s assistance in resolving the issues.
State minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Nurul Haque, labour secretary Md Abdur Rahman Tarafder, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice president Rezwan Selim, among others, were present in the meeting.