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Workers’ unrest flared up again in Ashulia, an industrial area on the outskirts of Dhaka, on Thursday as a group of garment workers staged protests demanding higher wages and forced workers at other factories to leave their workplaces.
More than 100 garment factories declared a general holiday amid the unrest, while protesters later blocked the Abdullahpur-Baipail road, disrupting traffic.
The workers initially entered their respective factories around 8am and marked their attendance by punching their cards. They then walked out and gathered in front of the main gates of other factories, pressuring fellow workers to leave their workplaces as well.
As the situation escalated, nearby factories announced a general holiday, prompting workers from more than 100 factories to take to the streets.
Police later dispersed protesters from several points along the Abdullahpur-Baipail road. The workers subsequently took positions on different feeder roads.
The situation in the Savar industrial belt remained relatively calm on Thursday morning following Wednesday’s incidents, when workers blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway and set fire to a police van and motorcycles.
The workers said they had continued their movement because the wage board commission had announced that wages would be increased in December but had not specified the amount of the proposed hike.
Security was tightened across the industrial belt to prevent vandalism and further unrest. Alongside police, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed, while armoured police vehicles were kept ready at key points.
Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of Industrial Police-1, said the overall situation in Ashulia under Industrial Police Dhaka was satisfactory.
Of the 1,863 factories under their jurisdiction, 70 remained temporarily closed on Thursday, while operations continued at the rest, he said.
He said some outsiders hurled bricks and stones at several factories in the Jamgora area after the announcement of a holiday. When some of them were detained, others attacked police and vandalised a police vehicle, prompting law enforcers to fire sound grenades and teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
The situation was now completely normal and under control, he said, adding that around 2,500 workers had earlier staged a peaceful procession from Zirabo to Envoy factory protesting the killing of a worker in Gazipur.
The police official said five platoons of BGB, along with armoured personnel carriers (APCs), had been deployed in the area. Police and industrial police were jointly working to maintain law and order and take legal action where necessary.
He urged workers to return to their workplaces, alleging that outsiders were instigating unrest and obstructing factory operations through social media.
He said the government had already initiated the minimum wage board process and announced that the revised wages would take effect from early January. Factory owners were committed to implementing the new minimum wages, he added.
Regarding those allegedly instigating the unrest, Bhuiyan said efforts were underway to identify and arrest individuals spreading provocative messages on social media. Several people had already been detained and important information obtained through interrogation, but their identities could not be disclosed at this stage due to the ongoing investigation.
He also alleged that outsiders were using workers as a front to create unrest, adding that police were investigating whether the instigators had links to any political party.
