RMG workers' unrest ceases in Ashulia
The situation in Ashulia remained calm yesterday after four days of agitation by readymade garment factory workers demanding a salary hike, said locals.
“No unrest took place yesterday,” said Officer-in-Charge SM Badrul Alam of Ashulia Police Station.
However, only one factory, of Ha-Meem Group, owned by FBCCI President AK Azad, was opened in the industrial zone.
“The factory opened at 8:00am. However, since workers' attendance was very poor, the authority shut it down at 1:00pm,” said a worker of Ha-Meem Group, Hiron Mia.
The factory authority had asked them to inform other workers to attended work from today, he added.
“The factory management informed the workers present today that the authority will hold a meeting to increase their salary after the majority of the workers join work,” he said.
Yesterday, some people were seen moving around almost every lane in Ashulia on rickshaws mounted with megaphones.
They were making announcements that the factories would be shut down if the workers did not join work and continued their violent protests today.
The workers claimed that these announcements were being made by the factory owners.
However, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, said he had no knowledge of any such announcement made in the area.
BGMEA leaders had issued the threat at a press briefing in the capital on Thursday.
From Monday to Thursday, around 400 people were injured, some 350 vehicles ransacked and about 130 factories vandalised in the industrial zone as the workers took to the streets demanding a salary hike, police and witnesses said.
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