Owners announced forced holiday in 42 garment factories on Wednesday as industrial unrest spread like wildfires up to Gazipur amid massive worker demonstrations.
Witnesses said as labour unrest spread to the industrial zone of Gazipur, 42 factories, mostly of garments, located in Chowrasta-Baipass road announced holiday on the day as workers demonstrated on various demands, including unpaid wages and male recruitment.
According to industry sources, at least 26 garment factories in the Gazipur industrial belt were forced to shut as workers left after outsiders who protested male-worker recruitment threw brick and stones towards the units.
Another 33 garment units located in Savar-Ashulia and Zirani areas also announced paid holiday, save one that was shut in line with labour law provision of 13 (1) the same day.
Workers of several garment factories blocked two high-ways, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh, causing traffic standstill, over a number of demands that include unpaid wages, annual leave and increase in attendance allowance.
According to Industrial Police and industry sources, garment workers of a group in the Chandra area of Kaliakair upazila barricaded the highway in the morning to press their demand for unpaid August wages and the reopening of factories.
They later blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway for a couple of hours, now joined by workers from several other garment factories, over unpaid wages. The ruckus resulted in traffic tailbacks on both lanes of the highway.
Later, law-enforcing agencies, including army patrols, arrived and talked to the protesters and dispersed them by noon.
After a third day of blocking the Nabinagar-Chandra highway, the workers of Birds Group withdrew the roadblocks on request of the law-enforcement agencies.
Talking to the FE, Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, opined that workers got 'confused' for a number of reasons, including rumours and outsiders while labour leaders also allegedly failed to play their role.
"On the other hand, factory owners are also responsible as they did not pay due respect to workers, which gradually agitated workers," she said, alleging that factory authorities are "bribing labour federations" instead of paying workers' wage arrears.
She calls on factory owners to implement the short-term demands in a 18-point charter immediately, including paying dues.
She also requests bringing the outsiders to book as they are responsible for instigating workers and spreading rumours and also the owners who are not paying dues despite repeated commitments, in order to save the industry.
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