Protests over unpaid Wages, Bangladesh - 2025

The Apparel Resources platform reported on Tuesday 11 February 2025 that the workers of Apparel Plus Eco Limited had protested the day before in the Gacha area, demanding the payment of two months' unpaid wages and the reopening of their factory.

Apparel Plus Eco Limited is part of TNZ Apparel Ltd, a Bangladeshi textile and garment manufacturer with multiple locations in Bangladesh (Open Supply Hub ID BD2020085E6Z6BV). According to Open Supply Hub, Apparel Plus Eco Ltd. is a supplier to a member company of the Textiles Partnership, the Dutch company HEMA and the British company MATALAN, among others. The parent company TNZ Apparel Ltd. also lists C&A, Lidl, Aldi and Otto, among many others, as clients. The Open Supply Hub spedifies ALDI Einkauf SE & Co. ohG as a buyer of TNZ Apparel Ltd. (2024).

The workers' protest began early in the morning after the employees realised at the start of their shift that the factory was closed. The previous Friday, a notice had been published announcing an indefinite closure without payment of outstanding wages for December and January. About 825 workers were affected by the closure, according to Apparel Resources. (According to Open Supply Hub, the company has 1,000 employees).

In response to the escalating situation, a meeting was convened at 11:30 am in the factory conference room, attended by factory representatives, representatives of TNZ Apparel Ltd, workers' representatives, representatives of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Industrial Police and officials from the Ministry of Labour.

After almost three hours of talks, the following agreements were reached:

• The unpaid wages for December will be paid by 20 February.
• January wages will be paid by 17 March.
• The bonus payments are to be settled before Eid-ul-Fitr (End of March).
• The reopening date of the factory will be announced in an official notice.
• Discussions are to be held on the payment of statutory holiday entitlements.

It is important for the employees that all parts of this agreement will be implemented. The business partners of Apparel Plus Eco Ltd. and the parent company TNZ Apparel Ltd. shall ensure this as part of their own human rights due diligence obligations.

Basic Information

Case ID: 2025-003

Identification Number from Open Supply Hub (OS-ID): BD202133304DNWP

Open supply hub link

Affected Country: Bangladesh

Date of occurrence: 2025-02-10

Social Sector Risks concerned:

• Wages (Conventions Nr. 26 & 102 & 131 & 177 & 181; FAO)

Supplier Details

TNZ Apparel Ltd.

Supplier Website: https://tnzbd.com

Production Site

Apparel Plus Eco Ltd.
Plot 228/8, By-Pass Road
Jogitola (Mogorkhal),
Bashan, Gazipur
1701
Bangladesh

Total number of workers/employees:
825-1.000

No gender specific information available.

Workers movement

No information about unions available.

No information about workers commitee available.

Business Relations

Known Buyer/Brands:

• C&A Mode GmbH & Co. KG
• HEMA Deutschland GmbH
• Lidl Stiftung Co. KG
• Otto GmbH & Co. KG

Source of information buyers: https://tnzbd.com/clients/

At least one of the buyers has the duty to report according to the Supply Chain Act / CSDDD.

Follow up

Sources

Name of reporting organisation: Apparel Resources

Apparel Resources is a digital platform aiming on providing relevant news for Buyers and Sellers in the Apparel and Textile industry.

Source of information about the case:

https://apparelresources.com/business-news/sustainability/workers-protest-gazipur-unpaid-wages-apparel-plus-eco-limited/

Contributor: SÜDWIND