RMG workers block road demanding dues
Traffic in Badda, adjacent areas halts for six and a half hours
Workers of Topaz Dresses Ltd, an apparel factory, block a road in the capital's Badda after the authorities announced the factory closed yesterday for an indefinite period allegedly without paying their arrears and any prior notice. Photo: STAR
Traffic movement in the capital's Badda and adjacent areas was halted for around six and a half hours yesterday after several hundred garment factory workers took to the streets demanding due wages. After sitting with the garment workers and owners of the factory in Badda, Topaz Dresses Limited, and failing to reach a consensus, police used water cannons to disperse the agitators around 2:30pm. The workers then engaged in clashes with police, vandalising some vehicles on roads from Middle Badda to Rampura, Kuril Biswa Road and Gulshan-2 intersection. However, no arrest, causality or case was reported. The agitators said the owners closed the factory without any prior notice and without paying their due wages. Badda Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mahbubur Rahman said Md Arefin, the factory owner's son, claimed to have paid the due salaries. "The owners demolished a food court on the factory's 10th floor and shifted it to the 8th floor. Workers on the 8th floor, who were shifted to two separate floors, mistook it as a plan to close the factory," he said. The owners shut the factory to avert an unrest, he claimed.
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