Apparel workers and their leaders rallied at the National Press Club and continued doing so at Ashulia in Dhaka on Thursday to push for their six-point charter of demands, which include immediate implementation of the new wage structure and longer festival holidays.
Two labour rights groups formed human chains and held rallies at the press club, putting out a call for factory owners to pay the dues and festival allowances before Eid-ul-Azha.
About 4,000 workers of three apparel factories at Ashulia also continued rallying on the day for festival allowance and longer Eid holidays, the New Age correspondent at Savar said.
The police and factory officials said the workers of Madina Apparel at Bashbari, and Toaha Textiles Limited and Opex Limited at Jamgora continued their rally and work abstention from the morning demanding payment of the salary for November, pay in line with the new wage structure and longer festival holidays.
The workers went back to work at noon as the authorities assured them of looking into their demands.
The workers the day before also rallied to push for their demands. Police deployment was reinforced in the area to fend off trouble.
The Ashulia police officer-in-charge, Sirajul Islam, said that additional policemen had been deployed to stave off any trouble. ‘The situation is now under control.’
The Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council at the programmes at the National Press Club called on apparel factory owners to pay the wages and other dues in arrears and the festival allowance to workers by November 13. They announced to stage a sit-in and a siege of factories, otherwise.
The organisation formed a human chain to press home its demand for worker’s payment.
Leaders of the organisation said many factory owners were trying not to pay the workers the festival allowance and other dues on the excuse of losses of the companies and absence of legal compulsion for them.
Payment of festival allowance to workers has become a tradition and owners must pay the allowance to the workers, the leaders said.
Presided over by the organisation’s leader Touhidur Rahman, the rally
was addressed, among others, by the organisation’s coordinator Amirul Haque Amin, Saluddin Sawpan, Nazma Akter and Shafia Parvin.
Bangladesh Garments Sramik Sangam Parishad also demanded payment of dues and the festival allowance to apparel workers by November 15.
The leaders at a rally at the press club said some factory owners were trying not to pay the workers the festival allowance.
Leaders of the labour rights group combine Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, Rafiqul Islam Pathik and others spoke.
A procession followed the rally.
