Staff Reporter :
More than 5,000 Readymade Garment (RMG) workers on Sunday blocked the Airport Road for six hours demanding implementation of the minimum wages in entry level and hike the salary for senior level staff in all factories across the country immediately.
Hundred of vehicles were stuck due to gridlock as the agitating workers from various factories in Uttara staged demonstration on the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport intersection and its adjacent areas around 9:00am.
The protest got bigger when workers from Uttar Khan, Dakkshin Khan and Tongi joined the demonstration from Airport to Tongi Bridge.
People, including airport-bound passengers, were trapped inside the buses and private cars due to the demonstration by the agitated workers.
Passengers bound for Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sherpur, Gazipur, Manikganj, Tangail, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur and Northern districts suffered due to severe traffic congestion, witness said.
The protesters withdrew their demonstration after getting assurance of acceptance of their demand from the concerned authorities around 3:00pm. The workers will resume the protest this morning (Monday), they said.
According to workers, the latest gazette published by the government last year, the monthly salary at the entry level of the seventh grade increased to Tk 8,000 from Tk 5,300. But the salary of the workers in other grades did not rise at the identical rate.
The salary hike for entry level workers was more than their senior operators, who have been working for more than seven to eight years. The new wage became effective on December 1.
Major disparity in salary hike is noticed in the third and fourth grades as their salaries were not increased like the entry level workers, they said.
In most of the grades, other than seventh, Tk 500 only was increased in their new salary structure, whereas an entry level worker’s salary went up by Tk 2,700.
Monir Hossain, an agitating worker, “I didn’t know about the protest. Others came and told my office. That’s why I came here. We demand that the implementation of our basic salary from Tk 8,500 to Tk 10,500.”
Zakia Akter, a worker at Epilion Garment in Chalaban, Dakkshin Khan, said, “They were supposed to raise our salary but they haven’t done that. They have instead increased our work load. They even abuse us if we fail meet the target.”
“We can’t even wash our faces because of the work pressure. They abuse us both verbally and physically if we can’t meet the target,” said Mohamed Hasibur Rahman from Casiopia Garments.
A Mawa-bound bus by Prochesta Paribahan became stuck after it departed from the bus counter at House Building about 9.30am. They could reach near the airport through the small alleys, but could not move further, said Dulal, the bus driver’s assistant.
The decision came at 2:00pm following the assurance of the implementation of the new wage board during a meeting with Uttara police and some of the factory owners, said Navid Kamal Shoibal, Deputy Commissioner (Uttra division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
A group of workers blocked the airport intersection around 9:00am while the others demonstrated on the street linking the neighbourhoods in Jasim Uddin, Rajlakkhi, Azampur, House Building, Abdullahpur Tongi Bridge, said, Mizanur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Uttara Circle).
