Protests force 400 factories to suspend operation
Several thousand apparel workers staged violent protests in Gazipur, Savar and Narayanganj after they were denied permission to attend a rally in
Dhaka on Saturday, forcing over 400 garment units to suspend operation.
The protesters vandalised vehicles and blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur for about two hours and a half, disrupting traffic on the busy route, according to witnesses and police.
The workers also went on the rampage at Fatullah in Narayanganj and Kabirpur, Boraipara and Jirani of Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka city.
New Age correspondent in Gazipur reported that the protests had erupted after the workers were denied a day’s leave for taking part in a rally held in Dhaka on the day to push for an increase in the wages of RMG workers.
Gazipur industrial police additional superintendent Mosharraf Hossain said police had cleared the highway around 11:30am.
In the face of agitations, around 400 garment factories located at Signboard, Bagher Bazar, Shirir Chala, Gazipur town, Masterbari and Bairagir Chala of Shreepur announced holiday for the day to avoid further deterioration in law and order.
Officer-in-charge of Kaliakoir police station Omar Farukh said stone-throwing protesters ransacked some factories after being refused permission to join the Dhaka rally. The workers also threw stones at the Shahjalal Islami Bank branch office and a Singer showroom at Shafipur Bazar smashing windowpanes.
The angry workers blocked the highway in Gazipur in the morning, alleging that they were not granted leave to participate in the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital in the afternoon. The Garment Workers’ Coordination Council, a platform of 51 organisations campaigning for apparel workers’ rights, organised the rally.
The workers were rallying for increasing the minimum wage toTk8,000 from existing Tk 3,000 a month for a worker in the export- oriented garment industry that earns over $20 billion annually in foreign exchange.
Locals said workers from Devine Textiles Limited and Intersoft apparels in Shafipur Pallibiddut area under Kaliakoir upazila demanded a holiday for Saturday as they wanted to join the Dhaka rally.
As the authorities refused them permission to leave the factories, the angry workers started agitation damaging furniture. They later took to the streets around 9:00am.
The highway in the areas at Chandra, Mauchak and Shafipur turned desolate after the workers started attacking vehicles.
Syed Shamsur Rahman, general manager (administration) of Mahmud Jeans Limited at Chandra, said the workers had ransacked the factory and blocked the highway. The authorities of Ayman Textiles Limited and Mahmud Jeans Limited announced holiday for the day to avoid further trouble, he added.
Abdur Rahim, manager (administration) of Pandora Group, said they had several factories located in the district and the workers were working smoothly. But a few ‘miscreants’ in the name of garment worker were disturbing peace in the factories.
‘In the face of the situation, the authorities of some factories have no option but to announce holiday for the day.’
He also said that the unrest continued at Kaliakoir.
Md Hasan, manager (administration) of Aman Textiles Limited at Bairagir Chala, said that hearing the news of protests, the workers of Shreepur area also started agitations. Later most of the factories in the area, including Denimac Denim Limited and Hams Fashions Limited suspended production for the day.
No cases were filed with the local police stations in connection with the incidents, according to police.
There are around 5,000 garment factories in the country with around 40 lakh workers, 80 per cent of them women.
According to United News of Bangladesh, garment workers went on the rampage at Fatullah as authorities allegedly denied them leave to attend the workers’ rally in Dhaka.
The workers vandalised at least 10 garment factories in the area.
Witnesses said several hundred garment workers had brought out a procession around 3:00pm and vandalised 10 factories as the factories were kept open. Some of the factories of the area were closed at 1:00pm.
Additional police super of Narayanganj industrial police-4 Masud Ahmed said the garment workers started protests after they found some factories open. Police brought the situation under control.
In Savar, workers vandalised five to six factories in Kabirpur, Boraipara and Jirani areas. Several thousand workers took to the streets prompting the authorities of a number of factories to shut their units.
-With New Age input
