Apparel workers' protests: Prime Minister in emergency meeting

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has sat in a meeting with ministers and advisors on the overall situation following the garment workers' movement demanding a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 and clashes with police.

The Prime Minister's press wing said the meeting began at 6 pm on Sunday, in the Cabinet Division meeting room at the Secretariat.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam, Prime Minister's Advisor Mahdi Amin, and Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, chief coordinator of BNP's labor organization Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, are attending the meeting.

Earlier, around 1 pm, Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury met with the Prime Minister. At that time, they discussed the ongoing worker unrest in the garment industry and the overall situation. In the backdrop of the workers' movement, the Labour Minister canceled his trip to the United Arab Emirates.

This morning, at a press conference at the Secretariat, he announced the formation of a new wage board to determine the minimum wage for garment workers.

Earlier, garment workers staged protests, work stoppages, and road blockades throughout the day today, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000, among other things. The movement spread to Mirpur in the capital, various industrial areas in Gazipur, and Ashulia in Savar.

In the face of garment workers' agitation in the industrial areas of Mirpur, Gazipur, and Savar in the capital, authorities have announced the closure of at least 500 factories. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said such abrupt closure has caused a loss of about Tk 373 crore in a single day.

BGMEA Vice President Md. Rezwan Selim told Agamir Somoy on Sunday that about 500 factories in Dhaka and its surrounding areas have been shut down due to the workers' movement. This immediately disrupted export operations worth about $30 million. In the long term, the amount of this loss will be even greater.

Demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000, among other things, garment workers staged protests, work stoppages, and road blockades throughout the day today, Sunday. The movement spread to various industrial areas in Mirpur in the capital, Gazipur, and Ashulia in Savar. In several places, there were clashes between workers and police, chase-and-counter-chase, arson, and vandalism. Police, industrial police, and BGB were deployed to control the situation. In Gazipur, the Dhaka-Tangail highway remained blockaded for about six hours, causing major disruption to northbound vehicular movement.

Amid the protests, the government formed a six-member wage board to determine a new minimum wage for workers. However, even after the announcement of the board's formation and calls from the administration to return to work, protests continued in various areas.In Mirpur in the capital, garment workers began protesting on the streets from the morning. Due to the workers' presence in Mirpur-10, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-12, Mirpur-14, and Proshika Mor, and surrounding areas, vehicular movement came to a halt. The protesters included workers from various garment factories.When police took steps to clear the blockade that had been ongoing since morning, tension developed with the workers. At one point, chase-and-counter-chase and clashes began between the two sides. Police used batons, tear gas, sound grenades, and water cannons to control the situation.Around 12:30 pm, a police vehicle was set on fire under the Mirpur-11 metro station. When Fire Service personnel went to the scene to extinguish the fire, they also faced obstruction.After the clashes, trains were temporarily stopped at Mirpur-10, Mirpur-11, and Pallabi metro stations for security reasons. This caused suffering for passengers. The stations were reopened about two hours later. By the afternoon, vehicular movement on the roads also returned to normal.In Gazipur, around 8:30 am, workers blockaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Safipur area of Kaliakair Upazila. The movement, which began with the demand to raise the minimum monthly wage to Tk 30,000, later spread to various industrial areas including Chandra, Pallibidyut, Mouchak, Safipur, Konabari, and Kashimpur in Kaliakair.Because workers took positions on the highway, vehicular movement came to a halt. In some places, tyres were burned and logs were placed on the road to create obstacles. Police and BGB were deployed to control the situation. The authorities concerned initially said five platoons of BGB were being deployed.A police box was set on fire in the Konabari area. At that time, there were clashes and chase-and-counter-chase between police and workers. Vandalism at a bank also occurred in the Pallibidyut area. In addition, there were incidents of vehicle vandalism and arson in various places.In the Pallibidyut area of Kaliakair, reports were received around noon that a factory of Monda Group was set on fire. Meanwhile, there was a report of a fire at the jhut (garment waste) warehouse of Tropical Knitex Limited in the Chandra Pallibidyut area. Because vehicular movement on the highway was halted, Fire Service vehicles had difficulty reaching the scene. Later, arrangements were made for Fire Service vehicles to go under BGB guard.Thana police reported that at least 15 vehicles were vandalized in Gazipur. After about five and a half to six hours, vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Tangail highway began to return to normal. This left passengers and transport workers stuck in traffic jams for a long time and caused them suffering.Worker unrest in Ashulia-Savar, factories announce holidayIn Ashulia of Savar, due to worker unrest yesterday morning, workers at several garment factories in Nischintapur, Narsinghapur, and surrounding industrial areas stopped work and staged protests. Work stoppages and protests were reported by workers at several factories, including Al-Muslim, Trouser Line, and New Ages.Later, when they took positions on the roads, workers from other factories also joined them. As the situation became heated, factory authorities announced a general holiday in the interest of security. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said at least 500 factories in Mirpur, Gazipur, and Savar have been announced closed due to worker unrest. This caused a loss of about Tk 373 crore in the sector.Additional Superintendent of Police of the Industrial Police, Mahbubul Haque Sajib, said factory owners announced the holiday to avoid an unpleasant situation. Police are on the ground to control the situation.Superintendent of Police (SP) Mominul Islam of the Industrial Police's Ashulia zone said police are making all efforts to avoid any kind of unpleasant situation. Owners of several establishments have stopped work at their factories.Amid the workers' protests in Mirpur, the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB) said 11 leaders and activists of Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League were arrested on charges of attempted sabotage and arson.Deputy Police Commissioner Mohammad Rakib Khan of the DB's Mirpur division said a certain quarter was trying to use the workers' movement to carry out violence and sabotage. In this connection, 11 people were arrested from among the protesters.He said garment workers have been protesting for several days demanding a wage increase. Since last Saturday, the movement has taken a violent turn. Yesterday too, there were clashes with police and incidents of setting police vehicles on fire. He alleged that leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations were trying to carry out sabotage by using the general workers' movement.In this regard, Joint Commissioner Mahidul Islam of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said a wage board has been formed to determine the wages of export oriented garment workers across Bangladesh. Now work on the matter will proceed through the wage board. Even after explaining the matter to the workers, they were not leaving the roads. It seemed to the police that an anti-government circle had joined the protesters and was trying to deteriorate the law-and-order situation.He said the roads were cleared with sufficient police members and officers. The protesters were dispersed to reduce public suffering. Sound grenades were used at that time. However, no baton charge was carried out. No one was detained either. No police member was injured.