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Normalcy has started returning to the apparel industry that has suffered a production loss worth Tk 3.5 billion in the past two weeks due to agitations by workers and act of vandalism.
A tripartite agreement signed Sunday by the government, industrialists and the workers to realise labour forces' demands has helped ease the situation.
Apparel exporters said they are hopeful about further improvement of the situation.
"Most of the factories reopened today (Monday), although some workers did not show up," said Fazlul Haque, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
Haque told the FE that he was satisfied at the developments taking place in the apparel and clothing industry, but warned that the government must be cautious in handling the situation, if it deteriorates.
The BKMEA president said the recent turmoil has also caused cancellation of millions of dollars worth of business. He could not specify the amount of order losses.
Aminul Hoque Amin, a labour leader, said he has told his trade union members to join their jobs.
"It is now important to resume works since the government and the garment manufacturers have signed a memorandum of understanding…" Amin said.
"We will not agitate and rather wait for a while to see if the MoU is being translated into actions," he told the FE Monday.
Amin said workers in Bangladesh can not enjoy their rights to form unions as the government is delaying the process of trade union registration. "Now, the government has acceded to our demand. Registration of a trade union will be easier now," Amin, General Secretary of Bangladesh National Garments Workers Federation, said.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, (BGMEA), also believes that situation will not get worse.
"The labourers want to resume production…and since we have agreed to implement their demands, things will improve from now on," said Abdus Salam Murshedi, Vice President of the BGMEA.
Salam said the decision of the tripartite agreement was not circulated well in the media and that was why many workers did not join their jobs.
"Many of our workers in fact had been insisting to go back to their work places," he said.
"Agitations like the one we witnessed recently, can not be stopped by force, we must listen to the genuine demands raised by our workforce," said Ghulam Faruq, a former vice president of the BGMEA.
He said that a gap between the expectations of workers and owners was created that nobody had ever noticed.
"We must recognise that in the long run we could not allow our employees to work for long hours…we all have to reach a consensus about workers' just demand," Faruq said adding, civil society, trade unions and media should play a positive role to improve the situation.
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