RMG workers block highway over salary arrears

10 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Narayanganj

Around 4,000 agitating garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway near Borpa bus stand at Rupganj in Narayanganj for more than two-and-a-half hours yesterday morning demanding payment of their arrear salaries. The blockade created severe traffic congestion on both sides of the highway, causing sufferings to the hundreds of stranded passengers. Witnesses said the workers of Antim Knitwear Ltd started demonstrating inside the factory at Rupganj around 8:00am for payment of arrears. The angry workers also ransacked furniture of the factory and locked its main gate from inside. Being resisted by police, the workers later took to the street and blocked the highway near Borpa bus stand at about 9:00am by burning tyres. They also vandalised around eight to ten vehicles. To bring the situation under control, police charged truncheons on the agitators who, in turn, hurled brickbats. Ten workers of the garments factory were injured from brickbats. They were admitted to different local hospitals. The agitators withdrew the blockade around 11:45am after the factory owners rushed to the spot and assured them of paying their arrears by May 15, Forkan Sikder, officer-in-charge of Rupganj Police Station, told The Daily Star. The owners also assured the workers of paying their salary by the 10th of each month, he added.