Garment workers stage demo at Mahakhali
Sunday, 13 September 2009
FE Report
Vehicular traffic on the capital's busy Airport Road came to a standstill on Saturday afternoon when hundreds of workers of a readymade garment factory in the capital's Mahakhali area staged a demonstration demanding the payment of dues and bonus before the upcoming Eid.
Some 250 workers of Tex Tech Limited blocked the Chairman Bari intersection on Airport Road for almost half an hour starting from 12:00 pm, causing severe traffic gridlock in the adjacent area.
Police arrived at the spot around 12:30pm and took control of the situation by pacifying the demonstrators and coaxed them back to the factory.
Owner of the factory could not be contacted, Gulshan Police Station sub-inspector Jahangir Alam told reporters.
Later, representatives of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) arrived at the scene and held a meeting with the factory workers and factory administration to find a solution to the problem.
Sources said that the workers of the garment factory have been agitating over their payments of their dues since the beginning of this month.
"Earlier, we were promised by the authority to make payment of all our dues by 7th of September, and we have waited until this Friday," said the General Manager of Tex Tech Helal Uddin.
The garment owner, Torun Shethi, who has disappeared since last week, is believed to have been gone into hiding, police said.
BGMEA representatives said that they were discussing whether it is possible to make the payments by selling the garment factory assets and machineries, but added that there they could not immediately find an appropriate party for purchase and also there are some legal constraints.
Earlier, Garments Sramik Trade Union Kendra on Friday repeated their demand that factory owners cleared up all dues including Eid bonus by September 16.
BGMEA whipped up a controversy last week by demanding a financial package from the government saying it would be impossible for 40 per cent of the country's garment industries to pay Eid bonuses to their workers as their businesses were affected due to global economic meltdown.
It later withdrew the demand in the face of criticism.
Vehicular traffic on the capital's busy Airport Road came to a standstill on Saturday afternoon when hundreds of workers of a readymade garment factory in the capital's Mahakhali area staged a demonstration demanding the payment of dues and bonus before the upcoming Eid.
Some 250 workers of Tex Tech Limited blocked the Chairman Bari intersection on Airport Road for almost half an hour starting from 12:00 pm, causing severe traffic gridlock in the adjacent area.
Police arrived at the spot around 12:30pm and took control of the situation by pacifying the demonstrators and coaxed them back to the factory.
Owner of the factory could not be contacted, Gulshan Police Station sub-inspector Jahangir Alam told reporters.
Later, representatives of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) arrived at the scene and held a meeting with the factory workers and factory administration to find a solution to the problem.
Sources said that the workers of the garment factory have been agitating over their payments of their dues since the beginning of this month.
"Earlier, we were promised by the authority to make payment of all our dues by 7th of September, and we have waited until this Friday," said the General Manager of Tex Tech Helal Uddin.
The garment owner, Torun Shethi, who has disappeared since last week, is believed to have been gone into hiding, police said.
BGMEA representatives said that they were discussing whether it is possible to make the payments by selling the garment factory assets and machineries, but added that there they could not immediately find an appropriate party for purchase and also there are some legal constraints.
Earlier, Garments Sramik Trade Union Kendra on Friday repeated their demand that factory owners cleared up all dues including Eid bonus by September 16.
BGMEA whipped up a controversy last week by demanding a financial package from the government saying it would be impossible for 40 per cent of the country's garment industries to pay Eid bonuses to their workers as their businesses were affected due to global economic meltdown.
It later withdrew the demand in the face of criticism.