Police locked into a clash with protesting workers of ‘RAK Ceramics Ltd’ in Gazipur’s Sreepur on Sunday morning to press home their 10-point demands.
Sources said the workers of RAK Ceramics Ltd staged a protest on Sunday morning, blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in the Jaina Bazar area of Gazipur’s Sreepur upazila to demand unpaid wages and other benefits.
The blockade began around 7am and involved several hundred workers, caused severe traffic congestion on both sides of the highway, leaving commuters stranded for hours.
Protesting workers have issued a 10-point demand, including payment of seven months' salary arrears with increment by August 1, merit-based recruitment, annual salary adjustment in February, and protection from dismissal during protests. They also demand fair wage structures, a Tk500 daily attendance allowance, a Tk1,500 bonus, reinstatement of old benefits including pensions, and the immediate removal of all Indian nationals from the company.
Workers allege that the authorities have long denied them their rights and ignored repeated appeals. With no resolution in sight, they have taken to the streets to press their demands.
Tensions rose when law enforcement personnel attempted to clear the road, triggering a chase and counter-chase between the police and protesters.
Around 8:30am, police fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the workers, clearing the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway and allowing traffic to resume after a two-hour halt.
Police tried to negotiate at first, but as the situation escalated after two hours of blockade, they used tear gas to disperse the workers and restore traffic by 8:30am. Photo: Dhaka Tribune
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official from RAK Ceramics said the workers’ demands will be reviewed and addressed through discussion.
However, he claimed that many of the demands were unreasonable and the authorities could not accept those.
Inspector Abdul Latif of Gazipur Industrial Police said vehicular movement resumed around 8:30am after law enforcement dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas.
He added that the situation was now under control.
Sreepur police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Abdul Barik said that police initially tried to persuade the workers to vacate the road peacefully.
When they refused, officers fired tear gas and sound grenades, forcing the protesters to leave and restoring traffic flow by 8:30am.
Abdur Razzak, an official from the Human Resource and Administration Department of RAK Ceramics, said discussions were ongoing with higher authorities regarding the demands.
He alleged that some unruly workers incited others to block the highway instead of allowing time for the management to respond.
