Garment workers block highway at Safipur and roads in Mirpur for a second day demanding Tk 30,000 wage

Garment workers are protesting for a second day by blocking the Dhaka-Tangail highway, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be set at Tk 30,000. From Sunday (November 1) morning, they have taken position on the road at Safipur in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur; traffic on the highway has stopped, leaving passengers in suffering.

Garment workers are also protesting in the capital's Mirpur today by blocking roads over the same demand. Traffic has stopped on several important roads in Mirpur, causing suffering for ordinary people.

Local sources said that at Safipur, at around 8:30am, workers from various garment factories came out of their workplaces after joining work and took position on the highway.

At one stage, when holidays were declared at 8 to 10 nearby factories, workers from those factories also joined the movement. With thousands of workers in position, vehicle movement stopped on both sides of the highway.

Eyewitnesses said many of the protesting workers were seen carrying sticks. They are chanting various slogans demanding a wage increase while in position on the highway; as a result, long-distance buses and other vehicles have been stranded.

In Mirpur, the workers' protest began at around 9am on Sunday with a road blockade at the Mirpur-10 roundabout. Later, workers from various garment factories took position on the roads in the Mirpur-11, 12 and Prashika Mor areas.

Police and local sources said garment workers have been protesting in the Mirpur area for several days demanding that the minimum monthly wage be set at Tk 30,000. Continuing that, they have taken to the roads again today.

Speaking to police, workers and local residents, it was learned that worker unrest over wage increases has been going on for the past two weeks in various areas of Gazipur including Konabari, Mouchak and Safipur.

In the meantime, the government has decided to form a new wage board to re-fix workers' wages. However, unrest in various factories has not subsided even after this decision.

Earlier, workers kept the Dhaka-Tangail highway blocked from Saturday noon until night. Although they left the road at night, they took position on the highway again on Sunday morning and started protesting.

On Saturday in Mirpur too, workers blocked roads at Mirpur-10, 11 and 12 as well as the Shah Ali area of Mirpur-1. At one stage of that day's movement, incidents of vandalism also took place at several markets and garment factories.

Kaliakair Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahidul Islam said the workers have been in position on the highway since Sunday morning. Because of this, traffic on that road remains closed.