Workers protest in Kaliakair demanding pay rise, block highway; 15 factories declare holiday

Garment workers in Kaliakair, Gazipur, have demonstrated demanding increases in wages, allowances and bonuses. They vandalised factories and blocked a highway. Fearing a deterioration of the situation and disorder, at least 15 garment factories in the Mouchak, Safipur and Konabari areas declared a holiday.

The protest, which began on Tuesday (27 October) morning, created a traffic jam stretching about five kilometres on the Dhaka-Tangail highway, causing suffering for ordinary passengers and transport drivers.

According to police and local sources, workers of Essential Clothing Limited in the Aklichala area of Kaliakair stopped work and began demonstrating between 8:30 and 8:45 on Tuesday morning, demanding higher wages, allowances and bonuses. They later marched from in front of the factory and took position on the Kaliakair-Fulbaria regional road.

At one stage, a section of the demonstrating workers pressured workers of neighbouring garment factories to join the movement. Bricks were thrown at several factories, injuring 10 to 12 workers.

According to eyewitnesses and police, the main gate and the interior of Sadma Textile Limited in the Mouchak area were vandalised.

Later, at around 11 a.m., a section of workers carrying sticks took position at various points of the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Mouchak and Konabari areas and blocked the road. At places, logs and bamboo were set on fire to enforce the blockade. Long-distance buses, trucks and countless other vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway, and the tailback spread across about five kilometres, causing extreme suffering for passengers.

Habibur Rahman, a worker of Essential Clothing Limited taking part in the movement, said prices of daily essentials are rising and house rent pressure is growing too, yet their wages are not increasing. Despite working for a long time on the same pay and repeatedly pressing the authorities to improve benefits, they got no result, so they were forced to take to the streets. He also said the movement would continue until the demands are met.

Mohammad Amjad Hossain, superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police-2, told reporters that when Essential Clothing Limited's workers began the movement in the morning, 14 to 15 factories in the surrounding area declared a holiday. The workers later took position on the highway. Police tried from the beginning to calm them through persuasion, he said.

Noting that the government has decided to form a new wage board, he called on the workers to be patient and to refrain from provocative activities.

Kaliakair Police Station's officer-in-charge (OC) Shahidul Islam said there were repeated rounds of talks with the workers and factory authorities. After lengthy discussions, the workers withdrew the blockade and left at around 1:50 p.m. Traffic on the highway then began to return to normal gradually.

After 2 p.m., the situation in the Mouchak and Konabari areas also began to normalise. However, additional police and members of the law-enforcement agencies were kept deployed in the industrial area to prevent any fresh untoward incident.