Smoke billowing from a bus after a group of aggrieved garment workers set fire to the vehicle on Airport Road in the capital during their demonstration on Monday — FE Photo Ready-made garment (RMG) workers blockaded some key roads in the capital and torched vehicle on Monday, as their protest over wage hike stepped into the second consecutive day.
Vehicular movements on northern and north-western parts of the capital were almost shut for several hours due to the agitation, causing immense suffering to the common people.
The trouble erupted at around 10:00 am, when workers of some RMG factories in various parts of Uttara and Tongi areas took to the street. They demanded full implementation of the latest wage structure that came into effect from December 01, 2018.
The workers, being aggrieved by not getting any positive response from their factory managements, blockaded Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Airport area.
During the chaos, traffic movements on the highway that connects key apparel industrial belts of Ashulia, Gazipur and Mymensingh with the capital came to a complete halt for more than five hours.
The situation forced a number of passengers to get down from the stranded vehicles to reach their respective destinations on foot.
The law-enforcers tried to intervene to maintain traffic and order in the area by firing tear-gas shells, leading to chase and counter chase between the police and the workers.
At one stage of the demonstration, a group of the agitators set fire to a passenger bus of Ena Paribahan close to the Airport intersection. However, no casualty was reported during the protest.
Deputy Commissioner (north zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Nabid Kamal Shoibal said RMG workers of several factories took to the street and blockaded the road at various points like Jasimuddin crossing, Azampur and House Building.
"The protest completely halted traffic movements in the areas. Police handled them with patience. The situation became normal at around 3:00 pm, as the protestors went back to work following assurance of meeting their demands," he added.
The workers alleged that the monthly wage in the seventh grade increased to Tk 8,000 from Tk 5,300 as per the latest gazette, published by the government last year. But, the salary of the workers in other grades did not increase at the same rate.
They also said major disparity in the salary hike was noticed in the third and fourth grades, as salaries of the workers belonging to these grades were not raised like that of the entry-level workers.
The salary hike for the entry-level workers was more than that of the senior workers, who have been working for more than seven to eight years in the industry.
In most of the grades, other than the seventh, only Tk 500 was raised in the new salary structure, whereas an entry-level worker's salary was increased by Tk 2,700.
Rubel, an operator of Tex Group located at Kawla of the capital, said the workers have not yet received any assurance from the owners regarding implementation of the revised wage structure.
He further said his monthly wage should be Tk 16,000 under the new wage structure, but he used to get Tk 8,000.
"We want to work to live. We will not take to street for anything, if we get salary in accordance with the new structure," he added.
During agitation, Khasru Chowdhury, owner of Nipa Garments, requested the demonstrating workers through loudspeaker to go back to work, giving them assurance of implementing the latest wage hike.
"I will pay your legitimate salaries. If I fail to continue production, I will shut production after paying one month's salary in advance. Please join your work," he told the workers.
After the request, the workers returned to their workplace at around 3:00 pm.
However, the workers' protest also spread to some parts of Mirpur in the afternoon disrupting traffic movements in the area.
On Sunday, the apparel workers, demanding implementation of the latest wage structure, staged protest in various parts of Uttara.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
