DHAKA: Several thousand Bangladeshi garment workers have lost their jobs after their factory was discovered with serious safety problems and shut down, officials said yesterday.
The factory was among hundreds targeted by safety experts for inspection in the wake of Rana Plaza building collapse.
The team of experts ordered the evacuation of six floors of two adjoining buildings housing clothing firms Softex and Fame Knitting after the inspection last week which discovered serious structural flaws.
Softex, a sweater maker and a supplier to French retailer Auchan, shut down immediately, laying off all 3,500 workers, saying “it was risky to continue operations”. Softex chief executive officer Rezwan Seilm said he was “desperately trying” to pay three months worth of wages to the workers from the factory in Mirpur in the northern suburb of Dhaka.
Fame, employing about 2,500 workers, also closed for a few days last week after engineers involved in the inspection requested reduced weight on some of the floors.
Unions criticised Softex and Fame for failing to compensate the workers. “We’re closing down plants as part of their (retailers’) suggestions. So they must pay the affected factories to compensate their workers,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. AFP
