RMG strike \\\'ineffective\\\' at Dhaka, Chittagong factories

Ready-made garment workers in Dhaka, Chittagong and Gazipur have not joined the strike called by protesting Tuba Group workers across all RMG units in Bangladesh.Police said works were going on as usual at factories in these areas on Saturday with no untoward incident reported until noon. A number of workers at Tuba Group owned factories went on a hunger strike demanding outstanding salaries of three months and bonuses.They declined BGMEA's offer for two months' salaries and went ahead with their demonstration until police evicted them on Thursday. The agitators, who had been staging a hunger strike for nearly two weeks, called a strike for Saturday. Industrial Police-1 Director Mostafizur Rahman said workers at Savar and Ashulia industrial belt had rejected the strike call. Workers turned up at their workplaces like any other day, he said. The scenes were somewhat similar in Chittagong and Gazipur. BGMEA Secretary Md Moyeen Uddin said there was no impact of the strike on nearly 550 RMG units under the organisation in Chittagong. Karnaphuli EPZ Managing Director Khurshid Alam said, "The attendance rate in the factories is normal and work is going on as usual." Police said they were on vigil to tackle any untoward situation. Assistant Superintendent of Gazipur industrial police Md Mosharaf Hossain said the situation was normal so far in the area. "We don't want strikes, we want to work," said Kamal Uddin, an operator at Diganta Sweater factory. "We have to go for what is good for us," he said, according to bdnews24.com.