50 injured in clashes with police in N’ganj, Gazipur relatively calm
Ignoring the government’s call for returning to work, garment workers in Narayanganj, Ashulia and Kaliakoir staged violent demonstrations for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday to push their demand for Tk 8,100 in minimum monthly wage.
Workers went on the rampage in Narayanganj even after the government asked the law enforcement agencies to take stern action against ‘outsider creating disorder’ in the apparel sector.
Gazipur was relatively calm on the day after deployment of Border Guard Bangladesh in the industrial zone. But a section of garment workers took to the streets in Kaliakoir in the district for wage hike.
Factory owners kept their units closed in many areas to avoid damage to factories.
New Age Narayanganj correspondent reported that at least 50 workers were injured as the police charged batons and fires rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse violent demonstrators in the port city.
Fatulla Shibu market area on Dhaka-Narayanganj road turned into battle field as police and workers locked into a clash for over two hours. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the demonstrations.
Several hundred workers of different factories in Fatulla blockade Dhaka-Narayanganj road in Shibu market area forcing suspension of traffic from 9:00am to 2:00pm on the route.
The agitated workers burned spent tyres and put logs on the road to disrupt traffic.
Fatulla model police officer-in-charge Akhter Hossain said the police had swung into action to clear the road after workers refused to disperse.
Reports from Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka said that workers of different factories in Ashulia continued with violent demonstrations for the sixth straight day for hike in their minimum wage. Workers of garment units in Zirani area blocked
Abinagar-Kaliakoir highway for about an hour. Factory owners closed their units as soon as the demonstrations began.
New Age Gazipur correspondent reported that normalcy started returning to many apparel factories in the industrial zone after the deployment of BGB troops on Thursday morning to tackle garment workers’ unrest.
BGB backed by industrial police and the district police has been patrolling the industrial zone since Tuesday morning, said Gazipur industrial police assistant superintendent Mosharaf Hossain.
But workers of some factories at Mauchak under Kaliakoir upazila continued with agitations. Many factory owners shut their unit to avert trouble.
The apparel industry, which employs more than 4 million workers, mostly women, plunged into a fresh crisis after workers started violent protests in Gazipur on demonstrations over wage on Saturday. The industry earns more than $20 billion a year.
The government on June 6 set up a six-member minimum wage board with retired district judge AK Roy as chairman to revise the wage structure of garment workers. The workers’ representative to the board, August 18 proposed Tk 8,114 in the minimum gross monthly wage for a worker and on September 17 owners’ representative to the board proposed Tk 3,600 a month, a 20 per cent increase on the existing wage of Tk 3,000.
-With New Age input
