Disgruntled workers from a few garment factories have taken to the streets of Dhaka’s Malibagh to demand back pay.
They lined the streets near Abul Hotel and demonstrated for over three hours from 8 am on Sunday.
Police later calmed the workers down and persuaded them to call off the protests at 11:30 am, said Hatirjheel Police OC Abdur Rashid.
The protesters are owed their salaries for February and March, ‘Ujjal’, who works in the sewing unit of the Tahsin Fashion in DIT Road, told bdnews24.com.
Initially, the owners had set Apr 15 as the payday but did not follow through with it, he said. The date of payment was rescheduled to Apr 26 but the authorities later called the women workers over the phone on Saturday, saying they would send Tk 2,000 through Bkash.
“This dilly-dallying forced us to come out onto the streets and protest.”
There were a handful of protesters on the streets, according to OC Rashid.
The workers later cleared the streets after police assured them that they would get paid on Apr 28, he said.
Bangladesh ordered a nationwide shutdown of offices and factories from Mar 26 in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus infection. The majority of garment factories have remained shuttered during the lockdown.
Under the circumstances, the government also announced a Tk 50 billion economic relief package for the exporting industries, including garment factories, to pay their workers.
Source: bdnews224.com
