City dwellers suffer in traffic jams as RMG workers demonstrate

Workers of at least three readymade garment factories in city's Mirpur and Uttara area Monday demonstrated blockading Mirpur and Airport roads demanding their salary and bonus ahead of Eid which caused severe traffic congestion in the city for the whole day. 

The demo left seven workers injured as the police charged batons and fired tear shells to disperse them. 

Traffic congestion was primarily created on the Mirpur and Airport Road – two major arterial roads of the city– when the workers started protest occupying the roads. At 1pm the police dispersed the protesters from the road. But the Dhaka citizens had to bear to brunt due to the traffic congestion till night.   

The protesters alleged that the police charged batons and fired tear shells to disperse them in which seven of their co-workers were injured.  

The workers of Cotton Textile And Apparels Ltd at Mirpur started demo Monday morning occupying the road.

At 12pm, workers of Intraco Design Ltd and Intraco Fashion Ltd of Uttara also started protest by blocking road demanding their salary and bonus.

The managing director of these Uttara factories is Elias Patwary. But his phone was found switched off when contacted. 

The labour leader of Intraco Design Ltd Mohammad Dulal told TBS that there are 1400 workers in these two factories and  about 1000 workers from these factories took part in the Monday's movement.  

Dulal also alleged that despite the regular production process in these factories, they did not get any salary for the last two months.  

He announced that they will hold meeting on today (Tuesday) on the issue and continue the protest if the problem is not solved.

All the three RMG factories are members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

The BGMEA Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam told TBS that the problem will be resolved before Eid. 

But one BGMEA official said that they are not finding the factory owners. A meeting will be held at the labour ministry today (Tuesday).

Severe Traffic Jams on Mirpur and Airport Roads:

The Airport road literally came to a standstill Monday due to the worker's movement. The city dwellers had to suffer for the whole day due to the traffic jams although the police forced the protesters to leave the streets.    

The authorities stopped all the Uttara-bound vehicles in front of the La Meridien Hotel at Khilkhet at around 1:30pm. Many commuters were found walking amid the scorching heat.

ADC (Traffic Mirpur) Sohel Rana told TBS that traffic jams were caused in these areas due to the workers' movement and it was brought under control within a short time.

He also said that the RMG workers take to the streets during every Eid. 

"We inform the relevant authorities regarding the protest issue. There is no negligence in communicating the issues on our part," he said.