RMG workers block busy Airport Road for pay hike

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At least 50 people were injured as police clashed with several thousand garment workers blockading the city’s Airport Road yesterday demanding a pay rise and end to ‘inhuman treatment’.
The demonstrations by the workers of four garment units of NASA Group went on for three and a half hours at Khilkhet intersection, forcing hundreds of vehicles to be stranded on either direction along the busy thoroughfare during the morning rush hour.

Vehicular movements came to a standstill on the road stretching from Mohakhali to Khilkhet while on the other side, thousands of commuters from Uttara and beyond were stuck in a miles-long tailback from 8:30am till 12 noon.

As the police clubbed the demonstrators to clear the road, a clash broke out between them and the garment workers. At least 10 teargas shells were fired to disperse the agitators who retaliated by throwing stones at the policemen.

The garment workers also damaged around 20 vehicles during the demonstration that escalated into a pitched battle leaving 50 of them injured.

Similar traffic congestion was seen on the Pragati Sarani and lanes and by-lanes leading to the Badda-Kuril Bishwa Road.

Many people bound for the Zia International Airport had to walk to the destination with their luggage in hands. Besides, the guardians took their children to schools on foot.

Workers began to gather at the Khilkhet intersection from 7:45am. Soon hundreds of garment workers from Kimia Apparels, Kimia Garments, Sunseed Apparels and Eden Apparels crowded into the place.

They allowed vehicular movement till 8:30am, and later when some buses and cars tried to move along the road, the agitating workers damaged a number of vehicles.

At this stage, police beat up some female workers, causing the agitators to fly into a rage.

At around 11:45am, police managed to push the workers to the roadside and allow the stranded vehicles to ply.

But some workers started throwing stones at the vehicles, prompting the police to go into action that continued for 15 minutes.

“During the clash, police chased some workers down and beat them up,” said Kuddus, a wayside vendor.

Later some workers regrouped on the railway track near Khilkhet and again started pelting stones at the running vehicles. Eventually, they left the scene following a huge police presence, he added.

The Airport Road and adjacent area were littered with stones.

Some workers said a few months back, the owners had assured them of increasing their salary within three months, but they did not act accordingly.

They also alleged that the factory authorities force them to work extra hours, but they never pay the workers for the overtime labour.

Besides, they face harassment whenever they seek a leave.

Despite repeated pleas, the owners have yet to arrange separate toilets for males and females, they added.

Joint Secretary (Labour Cell) of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Rafiqul Islam said some vested interests had misled the workers about wages and provoked them to go on the rampage.

He said the owners have promised the workers that their salaries will be raised after determination of a minimum wage. But their [workers] leaders could not yet decide on the issue though they had held as many as 18 meetings, he added.

WORKERS REPRESENTATIVES MEET OWNERS
In the afternoon, a meeting of workers’ representatives, owners and BGMEA leaders decided that the workers will join their work today.

Labour leader Nazma Akhter who took part in the meeting said Managing Director of NASA Group Nazrul Islam Swapan has assured that he will increase the wages once the Wage Commission formed on May 30 announces a wage structure.

She said the owner has also pledged to solve the other problems soon.

A correspondent from Gazipur adds: Hundreds of garment workers demonstrated on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway at Tongi disrupting traffic on the highway yesterday.

Witnesses said the workers of Fulchan Fashion Ltd went on a work stoppage from 8:00am. At 10:00am, they took to the road and blockaded the highway for an hour to press home their 10-point demand including payment of the arrears and overtime bills.

The workers withdrew the blockade after local lawmaker Jahid Ahsan Russell told them that he will take the initiative to solve the problems within a couple of days after discussing the matter with the factory owner.

Meantime, workers of Golden Relief Garments at Shirerchala in Gazipur staged demonstration inside the factory, demanding the salaries they have not yet been paid.

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