Dozens of RMG factories suspend operations after workers clash with police

At least 42 ready-made garment factories suspended production activities in Ashulia, Gazipur and Mirpur on Saturday amid vandalism by workers, demanding pay hike, and clashes with police.

At least 30 factories suspended activities in Ashulia’s Kathgram area, after at least one policeman was injured by brick chips allegedly thrown by the protesters.

Around 12 other factories, set up across a wide area from Konabari to Chandra area in Gazipur, also suspended the day’s operations after workers imposed a road blockade on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway, demanding Tk30,000 as minimum wage.

The workers allegedly clashed with police starting 5:30pm, when officers tried to disperse them by firing teargas shells.

Meanwhile, different groups of protesters continued road blockades in parts of Mirpur as of 4pm on Saturday afternoon.

Around 2:30pm, a group of the agitators vandalised shops, a garment factory and a shopping complex in the Shah Ali Mazar area of Mirpur-1. The agitators also clashed with security personnel in the same area around 2:30pm.

The street agitations began Saturday morning, even though a day earlier, the labour minister had assured of forming a board on adjusting minimum wages.

A leader of a labour group told reporters that the workers had been demanding Tk30,000 as minimum wage for “a long time.” The workers had also been calling for ending the practice of “blacklisting,” and arbitrary dismissals, he said.

Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury had assured of forming a wage board by the end of October. But as there was no such board as of 31 October, the protesters felt compelled to take to the streets, he said.

On Friday and Saturday, the minister twice assured the workers that the wage board on hiking wages would be formed Sunday.

Ashulia unrest

Around 10am on Saturday, a section of workers at Naim Knitwear in Kathgram, Ashulia launched a work boycott. Later, they exited the factory floor and started demonstrating on the street. At one point, they threw brickbats at nearby factories, prompting the police to intervene with force.

A chase and counter-chase ensued, during which a policeman received injury to the head, said Md Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police Unit-1.

The police continued efforts to pacify the workers with support from factory owners, he said.

Road blockades in Mirpur

Around 10:30pm, groups of garment workers enforced blockades in parts of Mirpur, including the Mirpur-10 intersection, Mirpur-11 intersection, Kalshi intersection, and Prashika intersection.

Around, 2:30pm, the workers lifted the blockade on Mirpur-10 intersection, ending four hours of sufferings for commuters and other passengers in the area.

But a group of the agitators, along with others, converged near the Shah Ali Mazar at Mirpur-1, and began vandalising establishments.

Initially, they vandalised the Himalaya Garment factory in the mazar area. The security personnel of the factory resisted, leading to a chase and counter-chase. Afterwards, a bigger group of protesters, vandalised the factory again as well as the Baghdad Shopping Complex in the area.

Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, deputy commissioner at the Mirpur division under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said legal actions will be taken against the agitators by reviewing CCTV footages.

Tensions subsided in the area by 3pm, but blockades continued in Mirpur-11 intersection and Kalshi intersection, according to Pallabi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Jalal Uddin.

Dhaka-Tangail Highway blockade

Workers of Interstop Garment launched a street demonstration at Chandra Palli Bidyut area, Kaliakoir upazila, Gazipur around 2:30pm on Saturday noon. Soon afterwards, workers from nearby factories joined the movement, demanding Tk30,000 minimum wage, and an end to arbitrary dismissals.

Afterwards, they blocked the Dhaka-Tangail Highway. They dumped soil-filled sacks, woods and bamboos on the road, and set fire to these, blocking vehicular movement across a stretch of seven kilometres.

One protester claimed they had been urging their owners to hike wages for the past couple of days. As their demand remained unmet, they took to the streets on Saturday, he told reporters.

Kaliakoir Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shahidul Islam told reporters that local police, with support from the Industrial Police and factory owners, tried to persuade the workers to leave the highway.

Around 5:30pm, a clash began with police and the workers, when the officers tried to disperse them by force. Police fired teargas, and the workers responded by throwing brick chips, Shahidul Islam said.