Gazipur factory workers block Dhaka-M’singh highway

Garment workers of a spinning mills are staging demonstration in Gazipur’s Sreepur, blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Tuesday (March 5) morning demanding salaries under the new payment scale.

Workers of Zamzam Spinning Mills took to the street around 6:30am and staged demonstration blocking the highway.

Due to the blockade, vehicular movement on both sides of the highway came to a standstill, creating huge tailback.

The workers of Zamzam Spinning Mills alleged that their salary stands fixed at Tk 7,000 while workers of other spinning mills get a minimum salary of Tk 9,500.

They received no assurance despite repeated discussions with the manager and general manager of the spinning mills.

However, police were able to remove the workers from road around 8 am with an assurance to talk to the authority of the mills.

Junayed, the factory operator, said, “We have contacted the factory authorities several times demanding salary under the new structure. But they did not pay heed to the workers which forced them to take to the streets.”

Ismail Hossain, sub-inspector (SI) of Mawna Highway police station, said that after being informed of the incident, they talked to the factory authorities and assured the workers that their demands would be met.