Apex garment trade bodies BGMEA and BKMEA have announced that factory owners may invoke Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act—enforcing the "No Work, No Pay" policy—to declare indefinite closures starting Sunday, November 15, 2026, if labor unrest persists and workers fail to join work. Speaking at a press conference at the BGMEA headquarters in Uttara on Saturday afternoon, November 14, 2026, following an emergency meeting of around 200 factory owners, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu warned that production across 147 BGMEA-member factories (employing roughly 300,000 workers) in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur remained halted on Saturday, with 55 factories already declared closed under Section 13(1).

Flanked by BKMEA Executive President Fazle Shamim Ehsan and leaders of both associations, Mahmud Hasan Khan noted that while the vast majority of workers are eager to work peacefully, a small group instigated by external quarters has been creating panic inside factories, forcing workers to punch out, and pelting stones at neighboring factory gates over the past 7 to 12 days amid ongoing minimum wage discussions. Warning that continued instability threatens Bangladesh's primary export earner and its international image, factory owners stated that continuing discussions at the Minimum Wage Board would be questionable unless full factory security is ensured immediately.