Wage protests shut Yunus's Bangladesh factory

A top Bangladeshi garment factory, run as a "social" enterprise by Nobel winner Muhammad Yunus, has been shut after workers staged violent protests over wages, police said Wednesday. Grameen Knitwear, one of dozens of businesses the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate has launched, was shuttered after more than 2,000 workers vandalised the $23 million factory on Tuesday, local police chief Sirajul Islam said. "The management closed the factory indefinitely after workers held violent protests, demanding a big hike in lunch fees and transport cost and at least 10 percent ownership in the company," he said. "They vandalised the factory, shattering its windows and were trying to torch cartons full of export-oriented apparel," he said. Islam said police were investigating the protests at the plant 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the capital Dhaka as Grameen Knitwear was one of a very few companies with a "good history" of payment to workers. Yunus won his Nobel prize for his work at Grameen Bank, a microfinance lender he founded that helped mostly poor women in rural areas to start their own businesses. He also runs more than 30 "social" businesses that aim to pay decent wages and offer protection to employees. Profits from them are reinvested rather than being distributed to the owners. The strike is a second blow to Yunus who was sacked from Grameen Bank in March this year by the central bank after a campaign by the government to oust him. Ashraful Hasan, chief executive of Grameen Knitwear, ruled out any political motive behind the protests, but he rejected the workers' demands, saying the company was already paying better than most other Bangladeshi garment firms. "We are the top five garment manufacturer in terms of wages and workers' benefits. We pay far above the government-set minimum wages. Still, some workers launched protests, making irrational demands," he told AFP by phone. After his sacking, Yunus said he wanted to concentrate on his social businesses. He has launched joint ventures with top global giants such as Danone and Veolia of France and Adidas of Germany.