Strike call draws lukewarm response

FE Team | Published: August 10, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Apparel workers' strike call drew lukewarm response Saturday amid a decision in a meeting on the day that the Tuba Group authority would pay the workers' dues for the month of July Sunday.
Tuba Group owner Delwar Hossain agreed in a meeting Saturday with Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) board of directors at the National Parliament Complex to pay his workers the wages and overtime bills for July Sunday, according to bdnews24.com.
"It has been decided that unpaid wages and overtime bills for July, amounting to Tk 11.7 million, will be paid to workers of the Tuba Group's five factories Sunday," BGMEA Vice President SM Mannan Kochi said after the meeting.
The payment of wages will start at BGMEA Bhaban at 2:00 pm. It was decided in another meeting with 35 labour organisations, said BGMEA President Atikul Islam.
However, according to an FE report, most of the garment factories functioned as usual on the day despite the strike call by the Tuba Group Sramik Sangram Parishad.
Production in almost all the factories in the capital and its adjoining areas was quite normal. Although attendance in the morning was comparatively thin, the situation became normal with the passage of time.
Normalcy was also reported from factories in Savar, Narayanganj, Ashuganj and Gazipur, where most of the garment factories are located.
Leaders of RMG workers and Sramik Sangram Parishad, however, claimed that partial work abstention was reported from some factories at Rampura in Dhaka city and in Narayanganj. They, however, said they could neither observe the strike fully nor bring out any procession in favour of their strike due to police intervention.
Police chased the workers and dispersed them in different industrial areas including Ashulia, Savar, Tongi, Gazipur, Dakkhin Khan, Tejgaon and Lalbagh, witnesses said.
Some workers brought out processions and staged rallies at Chashara and in front of the Press Club in Narayanganj and other areas of the country. But no untoward incidents were reported from anywhere.
Police beefed up security in and around the country's apparel hubs from early morning to avert any untoward incident as workers' groups earlier planned to observe a dawn-to-dusk strike at their units on Saturday. Following intelligence reports on possible violence at industrial belts like Ashulia, Savar, Gazipur and Dhaka, industrial police deployed additional forces there to protect the readymade garment (RMG) units.
Tuba Group Sramik Sangam Parishad called the strike earlier at all garment factories across the country to protest Thursday's police action against the agitating workers at Badda. Tuba Group workers had observed an 11-day hunger strike till Thursday to press home realisation of their demands for payment of three months' wages, festival allowance and cancellation of the bail granted by the High Court to the owner of the group Delwer Hossain.
"The dawn-to-dusk strike at all garment factories across the country has failed to create any impact on the regular work flow," said BKMEA Vice President Mohammad Hatem, adding that they were monitoring the situation.
"Workers of all RMG factories have been back on duty on schedule," he said. "The call for strike failed to attract workers of other factories as the Tuba Group Sramik Sangram Parishad called it to realise their five-point demand, which did not include any general issue," he added. Our correspondents from different parts of Dhaka, Savar and Gazipur reported that workers in different RMG factories joined their duties Saturday morning.
"We could not enforce the strike properly due to 'police action and obstacles created by musclemen," said Kazi Ruhul Amin, general secretary of Garment Sramik Trade Union Centre, one of the allies of Sangram Parishad while talking to The Financial Express.