Workers in Gazipur staged a protest on Saturday demanding the reopening of 16 recently closed factories in the Beximco Industrial Park.
During the protest, several vehicles on the road were vandalized by the agitated workers.
At one point, they blocked the Chandra-Nabinagar highway at the Chakrabarti area.
After clashes with joint forces, the workers eventually left the highway by noon, allowing traffic to resume.
The demonstration began around 9:30am in the Sarabo-Chakrabarti area of the city.
The factories, owned by Salman F Rahman, adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are part of the Beximco Group and employed approximately 30,000 workers.
The Beximco Group declared 16 of its factories closed (lay-off) from Sunday, citing a lack of export orders for ready-made garments and an inability to open letters of credit for importing raw materials.
However, in compliance with labour laws, the company has arranged for workers' salaries for December and January to be paid through a loan from Janata Bank.
The protesting workers said that until August 5, they received wages on time. They alleged that the authorities were using false excuses to shut down the factories.
With the factories closed, thousands of workers are facing extreme hardship, unable to provide for their families, pay for their children's education, or settle debts with shopkeepers, they said.
According to the industrial police, workers gathered in areas such as Zirani and Chakrabarti, blocking roads by dumping waste, setting fires, and using logs.
This caused a severe traffic jam, halting vehicles on both sides of the road.
Passengers and drivers on the Chandra-Nabinagar highway faced immense difficulties during this time.
Naojor Highway police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Shahidul Islam said that the highway remained blocked for five hours, disrupting traffic in both directions. Long-distance vehicles heading towards Dhaka from northern districts were redirected to the Dhaka-Tangail Highway or the Gazipur and Kaliakoir-Dhamrai regional roads, alleviating some of the inconvenience.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abu Taleb of Gazipur Industrial Police said: "The workers began their protest in the morning, demanding the reopening of the factories. Joint forces later removed them from the highway, allowing vehicles to resume movement from 2pm. Traffic is now running smoothly on the road."