RMG workers block road in Gazipur 

Workers of a garment factory–Irish Fashion–staged a protest by blocking the Nabinagar-Chandra road at Zirani in Gazipur city today (5 October), pressing home various demands, including attendance bonuses, tiffin bills, and annual leave payments.

Beginning at 9am, the factory workers launched their protest by blocking the road, which led to severe traffic congestion on both sides of the Nabinagar-Chandra road for hours.

A source at the industrial police told TBS that in the face of the workers' protest, several other factories in the area were forced to declare a closure by their respective authorities.

Zahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kashimpur police station, told TBS that the workers who blocked the road at around 9am lifted it at around 5pm on being assured by the authorities that their demands would be met.

Industry sources report that yesterday, 407 factories remained operational in the Ashulia, Savar and Zirani areas, while 10 stayed closed. In Gazipur, 876 factories remained operational, with 18 staying shut. 

Normalcy returns to Ashulia 

The Ashulia industrial belt, which has experienced labour unrest in recent weeks, largely returned to normal operations yesterday, with most garment factories keeping their production on.

According to industry sources, apart from a readymade garment factory, Donglian Fashion BD Limited, no incident of labour unrest occurred elsewhere in Ashulia yesterday. 

The overall working environment in the industrial area remained normal, they said, adding that, except for a few factories, operations in all factories within the industrial area were ongoing.

In the morning, a clash occurred between workers and outsiders at the Donglian factory in the Baipail area.

A worker from the factory told TBS that during a recent protest, along with various other demands, the workers had also demanded the dismissal of four officials from the factory. During the protest, the factory authorities accepted all the demands of the workers, he said.

"After the workers joined the factory yesterday, some officials informed the workers that the previously dismissed officials would be reinstated. They asked the workers to affix their signatures on blank paper. This led to a verbal altercation between the workers and the officials," said the worker. 

At one point, the factory authorities brought in around 100 to 150 outsiders inside the factory to assault the workers, which resulted in the clash, he said. "Later, around 11am, when army and law enforcement personnel arrived at the factory, the outsiders fled. Subsequently, the factory was declared closed for the day," he added.

TBS tried to contact Rafiqul Islam, administrative officer of the factory, multiple times on his mobile phone regarding the matter, but he did not pick up the phone.

Six people from the scene were handed over to the local police station. But their identities could not be confirmed.