Garment workers blockade Mirpur-10 demanding Tk 30,000 minimum wage, severe traffic jams

Garment factory workers are demonstrating by blockading the road at the Mirpur-10 roundabout in the capital, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000. The blockade has caused severe traffic congestion in the area and on surrounding roads.

From 10am on Thursday (29 October), several hundred workers took position on the main road. According to police and eyewitness sources, workers from several local garment factories gathered in the morning and began protesting at the Mirpur-10 roundabout junction.

At one stage the workers blocked the connecting roads on all sides and stopped traffic. As Mirpur-10 roundabout is an extremely busy junction, the blockade created severe congestion across a wide surrounding area, and traffic on the main roads came to a complete standstill.

Ordinary pedestrians, passengers and transport drivers suffered extreme hardship as a result.

Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, deputy commissioner of the police's Mirpur Division, said the garment workers had blockaded the road demanding a minimum wage of Tk 30,000. Police were trying to persuade them to leave the road to avoid an unwanted situation and reduce public suffering, he said.

Traffic police and members of the law-enforcement agencies are present at the scene. Police said efforts were under way to move the workers from the road and restore normal traffic movement.

Deputy Commissioner Hasan Mohammad Naser also told the media that they were trying to clear the workers and normalise traffic, and that ordinary passengers were being requested to be cautious when using the roads.