\\\'We\\\'ll not get dues even if we die\\\'

Initially her apprehension was about not being able to celebrate Eid with families if dues were not paid to her before the festivity. After four days of hunger strike, garment worker Ruma Begum fears she would not get her dues even if she died of starvation. Ruma is among the 300 workers of the five readymade garment (RMG) factories of Tuba Group who were on hunger strike, since eve of the Eid-ul-Fitr. As their strike lingers, number of workers falling sick are also increasing. Due to weakness many workers are falling asleep on the table at the finishing room. Voices of those dejected workers sitting on the benches, tables or on the floors too were becoming feeble. Ruma was lying on a table at the finishing room on the sixth floor of the 12-storey ‘Hossain Market, owned by Tuba Group, in Badda along with many other co-workers, who are sustaining on saline drips. Some doctors of Progressive Doctors’ Forum were treating the workers, who were getting sick due to their continued hunger strike. The Tuba Group workers in the city’s Badda factory started their ‘fast unto death’ protest on July 27, demanding their last three months’ outstanding salaries and Eid bonus, according to a news agency.