Garment workers in Gazipur clear highway as owner pays 3-months' wages after 10-hour protest

Workers from a garment factory in Gazipur cleared the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway today (1 October) when the owner paid their three-months' pending arrears after they protested for ten hours.

Jahangir Alam, officer-in-charge of Basan Police Station, said, "When the protests started at around 8:30am, we went to the spot and had discussions with both the factory owners and workers. Later, at around 7pm, when the owner paid the dues of three months, the workers left the streets and went home."

The protest began at the gate of APL Apparels, located in the Bhogra area of Gazipur, where workers had gathered this morning. The workers, demanding three months' unpaid wages, eventually moved their demonstration to the highway.

The demonstration severely disrupted traffic on the busy highway. 

According to the protesting workers, they were forced to take this drastic step after repeated promises by the factory management to pay their overdue wages went unfulfilled.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Mohammad Ibrahim Khan said, "In the evening, when the demands of the workers were met and they left, the traffic was back to normal."

The workers of MM Knitwear Limited factory in the Konabari area halted work this morning, demanding bonus and other facilities. Later in the afternoon, they went back home.

Superintendent of Police of Gazipur Industrial Police Mohammad Sarwar Alam said nine factories in Gazipur remained closed today. Of these, four factories were declared closed under Section 13 (1) of the Labour Act, according to which, the owner can shut down a factory or a section of a factory due to an illegal strike.

Apart from this, one was a lay-off, one on temporary closure and three announced general holidays.

According to the Gazipur Directorate for Inspection of Factories and Establishments, there are a total of 2,633 registered factories in the entire district, and 400-500 unregistered ones, employing about 2.2 million workers.

Sources said except for the nine factories, production in 98% of factories in Gazipur has been running smoothly.