Workers Safety Forum has expressed concern over the announcement of shutting down state-owned jute mills and voluntary retirement of workers through 'Golden Handshake'.
The Forum said the decision is inhuman as the workers have already been passing through a very bad time because of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
The workers' rights organisation made the observation through a press release on Wednesday.
However, the organisation said they have been informed from different media that BJMC has started a process to send its 25,000 permanent workers into voluntary retirement.
But the workers did not take the BJMC move easily. They also announced to go for hunger strike after a fruitless meeting between the state minister for labour and workers' leaders, it said.
Although the workers have been demanding modernisation of the machinery of state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) for long, the authorities failed to do it, the press release added.
The organisation demanded that immediate steps be taken for research and development works for ensuring sustainability of the jute industry and its workers protection
