Bangladesh factories resume work, except Youngone

DHAKA, June 16 (Reuters) All garment factories in an export zone hit by violence near Bangladesh's capital Dhaka resumed operations by Friday except South Korea's Youngone, the biggest textile company in the country, officials said.

The zone at Savar, 25 km (15 miles) from Dhaka, has 84 factories, which were all shut for about two weeks around the end of May following widespread protests by workers demanding higher wages, other benefits and job security.

Minimum monthly wages of textile workers 17 years ago were equivalent to at the time, with a provision to adjust it upward every year at the rate of annual inflation, data from a meeting of textiles industry investors and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) on Thursday showed.

But wages have not been raised in line with inflation rates. The textile employees have now asked for a minimum wage of 3,000 taka (), matching monthly wages of agricultural workers.

Brigadier General Ashraf Abdulla Yusuf, the chairman of the state-run BEPZA, the regulatory body of the export processing zones, told Reuters that he was hopeful Youngone would resume operations in a couple of days.

Nearly half of Bangladesh's 140 million people live in poverty, and the garment workers are among the poorest groups.

Angry workers set fire to several factories, damaged dozens more, fought pitched battles with police and forced production units closed during the protests.

They also attacked and damaged vehicles on the roads as the violence also spread to factories outside the zone.

''We have not been able to reopen the factory as the situation continues to be bad,'' said Abdul Hakim, spokesman for the Youngone chief Kihak Sung, on Friday.

Kihak is also the Chairman of Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Investors Association (BEPZIA) -- which represents foreign and local owners of the clothing factories in the country.

''We have yet to take a decision when the factory may resume production,'' Hakim told Reuters.

Youngone has invested 0 million and employs 34,000 workers.

Garments are Bangladesh's biggest export, bringing in more than billion a year. The country has about 4,000 garment factories, employing about two million workers.

Under an agreement signed among factory owners, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and the government last week, the textile workers would be able to form trade unions, get regular payment of overtime money, weekly holiday and maternity leave with pay.

''The agreement is not the last thing we want, more important is its implementation,'' said Kamrul Ahsan, the general secretary of National Protection Alliance for Garments Workers and Industries.

REUTERS DKS SND1436