One of Bangladesh’s largest denim manufacturers is poised to reopen Thursday after days of violent protests, which left more than two dozen workers injured, resulted in an “indefinite” suspension of its factories last week.
“Due to an unexpected situation, the authorities were compelled to declare an indefinite closure of all factory operations under Section 12(1) of the Bangladesh EPZ Labor Act 2019, effective from Oct. 16,” a notice signed by Pacific Jeans Group managing director Syed Mohammed Tanvir read in Bangla. “As the overall situation has now improved and a favorable environment has been restored, the authorities have decided to reopen the factories from Thursday.”
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More than 35,000 workers are employed across Pacific Jeans Group’s eight factories in the Chattogram Export Processing Zone in Chittagong, Bangladesh’s second-largest city after the capital of Dhaka, which lies nearly 170 miles to the north. According to the company’s website, it produces jeans for high-profile brands such as American Eagle Outfitters, Calvin Klein, C&A, Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, Lee, S.Oliver, Wrangler, Uniqlo and Zara.
Mango denied a relationship with Pacific Jeans Group, though Pacific Jeans, one of the closed factories, was listed on its public supplier list as of 2024, the most recent version available online. A representative from S.Oliver said that the brand expects all its partners to “operate with full respect for human rights and in accordance with applicable laws” and “stands ready to take appropriate action as more information becomes available.” The other companies either declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Pacific Jeans Group, Tanvir or the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the influential trade group where Tanvir serves as a board director, making it difficult to get a full picture of the circumstances.
What’s certain, however, is that the situation had escalated in a matter of days, according to local media. The Business Standard, which described the unrest as “one of the most severe in Bangladesh’s garment sector this year,” traced the demonstrations to Oct. 9, when workers reportedly learned that the Bangladesh authorities were verifying their home addresses as part of an investigation into an earlier skirmish where police cars were vandalized. This sparked a wave of panic among workers who feared they were being targeted for arrest—not a far-out notion—resulting in an initial protest that triggered a temporary shutdown. This appeared to anger the demonstrators further. By Oct. 14, workers allegedly stopped work, disrupted electrical systems and persuaded others to join their strike.
By the time Pacific Jeans Group announced what would turn out to be a seven-day production shutdown, 27 workers—16 men and 11 women—were hurt, two of them seriously enough to have to be seen at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Factory officials, who had described the strike as illegal under local labor law, said they had also been assaulted. One other notice from Tanvi added that workers started fighting among themselves and vandalized their factories, making it impossible to continue operations. Workers later issued a litany of complaints, including opposition to recent factory floor line changes that they said displaced certain employees and demands for the dismissal of supervisors whom they accused of mistreatment.
Abdullah Al Mahmud, a superintendent with Chattogram Metropolitan Police, told The Business Standard that it held several meetings with workers, management, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and other stakeholders over the past five days. Pacific Jeans Group, he said, has identified and fired more than 420 workers who were involved in the protests and disruptions. He added that all termination benefits have been paid.
“We have deployed special teams in coordination with BEPZA, the Army, Navy, CMP, and intelligence agencies,” Al Mahmud added. “We will remain alert to prevent any further disturbance in the factories.”
