Garment workers block Uttara airport road for over 2 hrs

Garment workers from several factories blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Uttara’s Azampur area for more than two hours on Wednesday, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000, payment of outstanding dues and wage increases.
Several hundred workers blocked roads between the airport and Jasimuddin Road after gathering in the area in the morning. They took to the main highway around 11am, halting traffic, before spreading their protest to the airport-bound road and Jasimuddin area. Around noon, a large procession from Uttarkhan joined them.
The workers said they had been demonstrating since 12 October, demanding a wage increase in line with the rising cost of living. Worker leaders vowed to continue the movement until their demands were met and announced another programme for today.
Police, led by Uttara Division Deputy Commissioner Md Rezaul Karim, tried to persuade the demonstrators to leave the roads. Officers cleared the Azampur section around 1pm, and the blockade ended at 1:30pm.

Kamrul Hasan Talukder, officer-in-charge of Airport Police Station, said police and traffic officials intervened to clear the roads, after which traffic returned to normal.
Rezaul Karim said workers from several factories had blocked the highway simultaneously to press for a wage hike, bringing traffic to a standstill, but police later cleared the roads around noon.
On Monday, hundreds of garment workers from factories in Dakshinkhan also blocked one side of the highway in Azampur, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000. Police brought the protest under control through discussions, and the workers returned to their workplaces after about an hour.

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