Chaity Group, a leading clothing exporter, shut down four of its units on Sunday following “labor unrest” in the past two months.

The factories are – Ashique Dress Design Ltd, Ashique Jeans Apparels Ltd, Nice Apparels Ltd and Ashique Dress Design (Printing).

“All 2,500 factory workers will be laid off on December 8 with November wages,” said a closure notice signed by the group’s director (administration), Brigadier General (ret’d) Mesbahul Alam Chowdhury. Business Standard has obtained a copy of the notice.

Dismissed workers will receive all the benefits mentioned in the labor law, including notice pay, service benefits, earned annual leave and other benefits, on December 29 from the factories, reads the notice, which has has been sent to the relevant public offices and to the exporters. association.

According to BGMEA officials, the group will have to pay Tk 18 million in compensation to the dismissed workers.

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said it would be a glaring example of union disruption if the owner had to shut down even after placing export orders .

Union leaders said the factory closure notice was “blunt and unacceptable” and that they would organize protests against him.

According to factory officials and workers, the “chaos” that led to the factory shutdown consisted of workers’ demands for self-promotion and reported sexual harassment of a worker.

In factories, workers with already three years of experience demanded promotion in the automobile. Homeowners recently responded to demand in the face of growing protest.

On Thursday last week, a worker reported sexual harassment by a cutting manager. Subsequently, an investigation committee was formed which found the allegation false after analyzing the closed circuit camera (CCTV) footage.

But union leaders demanded the dismissal of 39 managers following the reported harassment.

BGMEA vice chairman Nasir Uddin said the group had faced labor issues for the past two years, but the owners were “very cordial” in responding to workers’ demands.

Joly Talukder, secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Center, said the abrupt closure of the factory would cast a negative image of Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector to foreign buyers.

She said the dismissal is unacceptable and that they will hold protests outside the factories on Monday.

Muhammad Morshed Alam, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Uttara Division), told The Business Standard: “We are already aware of the closure of the factory. Now it’s up to the owners to decide since they said they would act in accordance with labor law.

With an annual turnover of approximately $ 175 million and 13,500 jobs, Chaity Group has textile, spinning, clothing, accessories, catering and business development activities.