DHAKA, Sep 7 : Unrest prevails in the Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry, with production shut in 25 big manufacturing plants following labour trouble amid apprehensions of a medicine crisis unless the problems are resolved soon.
Till now, however, drug supply has remained normal, media reports said.
In the meantime, after discussions with the workers, several pharmaceutical factories are scheduled to resume production, though there is still uncertainty over when some of the factories will reopen.
Speaking with the country’s leading news outlet Prothom Alo, president of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) Abdul Muktadir stated that the pharmaceutical sector has not yet returned to normal.
According to the Pharmaceutical Industries Association, Bangladesh has over 300 medication production businesses, of which approximately 200 are operating. These industries produce over 98% of the country’s medications.
Several of the enterprises export pharmaceuticals to over 150 countries throughout the world.
Workers at Popular Pharmaceuticals in Tongi, Gazipur, stopped the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on August 25, seeking stable salaries, a rise in attendance bonus, and other benefits.
The protests eventually moved to General Pharmaceuticals, Square Pharmaceuticals, Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Ibne Sinha, and other pharmaceutical facilities. When the situation became out of control, 25 factories shut down.
Workers expressed up to 21 requests, which varied from factory to factory. The demands included a minimum wage of Tk 15,000 to Tk 25,000, a 20 to 25% annual wage increase, promotions every two years, a two-day weekend, a seven-day Eid holiday, and a three-day Durga Puja holiday, the right to form a labour union through elections, the ability to use a mobile phone on the production floor, and so on.
Top executives from pharmaceutical firms claimed when workers were guaranteed that some of their legitimate requests would be honoured, they were coming up with new ones. Certain requests, if satisfied, would disrupt the line of command in the plants, the executives said..
The Square Pharmaceutical officials declared on Saturday that one of its plants in Kaliakoir will be shuttered for one week following demonstrations. After lengthy discussions with the workers, the management agreed to resume production.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), drugs worth USD 175 million (USD 17 crore 50 lakh) were exported in the 2022?23 fiscal. In the first ten months (July-April) of the 2023-24 fiscal, the export of medicines from Bangladesh totalled USD 169.2 million (USD 16 crore 92 lakh).
This export figure is 17 percent higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. (UNI)
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