Traffic movement on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Aricha highways and several other roads in Ashulia remained halted for hours causing miles-long tailbacks as workers of different readymade garment (RMG) factories put blockades at Gazipur, Savar and Ashulia as part of their continuous protests with various demands on Tuesday.
Witnesses said thousands of passengers had to experience immense sufferings as hundreds of vehicles had to remain stuck on both sides of the roads and highways.
In Gazipur, RMG workers of a factory blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, one of the country's busiest highways, on Tuesday morning demanding their unpaid wages.
As a result, traffic movement on the highway remained halted for nearly seven hours causing over 15-mile long tailback in Gazipur.
The workers from Apparel Plus Limited resumed their protest around 8:00am in Bhogra area of Gazipur district, demanding the settlement of their overdue salaries.
One of the agitating workers said, "The factory remained closed since August 14 without clearing our arrears. We won't stop our protest until we get what we're owed.”
"Land lords will ask for the rent as the month has ended. We need to pay rent and school fees also," he said.
Shafiul Alam, president of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation for the Gazipur Metropolitan, confirmed that the factory had announced its closure on August 14.
A tripartite agreement [between workers, factory, and Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments] was made to pay all dues, but the factory missed the September 25 deadline to pay wages of the month of July, prompting the workers resume the protest, he said.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Mohammad Ibrahim Khan said, "The workers launched protest since Monday evening. They left the road at 1:00am. After a break, they resumed the blockade programme in the morning."
RMG workers block Nabinagar-Chandra highway
Besides, workers of Birds Group blocked the Nabinagar-Chandra highway's Bypail area in Ashulia industrial area, demanding unpaid salaries.
Due to the blockade, hundreds of vehicles were stuck on both sides of the road causing suffering to passengers.
The workers said that they were protesting for their three months' salary and other dues. They also demanded that the factory should be reopened.
They said they would not leave the road until their dues were paid.
Asked, Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia Police Station, said the workers were still on the road.
Police, labour representatives, and army officers went to the owner's house for a solution, he added.
JU students block highway protesting death of RMG worker in clash
Students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) on Tuesday blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway protesting the killing of a RMG worker during on Tuesday’s clash between the workers and the law enforcers in Ashulia. The protesting students
took position in front of the university's entrance on the highway around 1:15pm and left the place 45 minutes later.
According to the students, the death of a worker by the state forces cannot be accepted in any way. The workers are also part of the new Bangladesh that has been ushered in by the student-mass movement. The workers also took to the streets during the movement. So, the use of deadly weapons on those workers cannot be accepted in any way, they said.
Riddha Anindya Ganguly, a student of the JU's archeology department and also general secretary of Chhatra Union's JU unit, said that the workers of the garment sector had equal participation in the mass movement that brought down the Sheikh Hasina's autocratic government.
"We have seen, in the fall of Hasina's autocratic regime, firing on the agitating workers that left a labourer dead. We strongly condemn and protest the killing," he said.
