Workers from the Generation Next garment factory have blocked the Nabinagar-Chandra Road at Baipail intersection in Ashulia, causing a massive traffic jam.
For the second consecutive day, they are protesting to demand overdue wages and benefits, leading to severe congestion on both the Nabinagar-Chandra and Abdullahpur-Baipail roads.
Protesting workers said that the factory management has failed to pay wages and other allowances for the past three months. The factory was abruptly shut down without settling the outstanding dues.
Although the owners promised multiple times to clear the payments, the workers have not received any wages in the last three months. Several months of wages are also owed to the factory's staff, they added.
Saiful Islam, a worker at the factory, said: "For the past three months, my family and I have been struggling. I'm behind on rent and in debt to local shops, and we're barely surviving. I have not been able to find another job either."
Ashulia police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Bakar Siddique said: "The workers have blocked the highway again since morning. We are trying to negotiate with them and clear the road."
Sarwar Alam, superintendent of police of Industrial Police-1, confirmed that discussions regarding the Generation Next workers are ongoing.
A factory insider, requesting anonymity, disclosed that the factory's chairman, Touhidul Islam, is currently in hiding. The managing director, Rajiv Shetty, an Indian national, has returned to India, leaving the issue unresolved.
The factory, which employs around 4,000 workers, currently owes approximately Tk130-140 million in unpaid wages and benefits.
A representative of the factory’s management said if the government or a bank provides a loan, the factory could resume operations.