Garment workers in Ashulia continued their work stoppage and protests on Sunday over demands for higher wages and other benefits, prompting authorities to declare holidays at most factories in the industrial area to prevent further escalation.
On Sunday, workers at several major factories, including Knit Asia, Al-Muslim, Sabiha Apparels, Trouser Line and S21, initially stopped work at their respective workplaces.
Workers from Narsinghapur and surrounding areas also stopped working and came out of their factories.
After 11:30am, workers took to the Abdullahpur–Baipail Highway in the Unique and Narsinghpur areas. Their blockade brought all traffic on the busy highway to a complete standstill, causing severe hardship for commuters on the route.
According to the latest updates, holidays have been declared at almost all factories in the areas stretching from Baraipara to the EPZ along the Nabinagar–Chandra Highway, as well as factories inside and outside the EPZ, Baipail, Unique, Jamgora, Narsinghapur and Zirabo. However, the situation in Savar remained normal, as on previous days.
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most factories had been compelled to declare holidays in response to the situation. Although some factories initially remained operational, workers arrived and forced the authorities to close them.
Additional police and other law enforcement personnel were deployed in and around the affected areas to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incidents.
Additional Superintendent of Police Sohel Ahmed of Industrial Police-1 (Operations and Intelligence) said adequate police personnel had been deployed since 6am, and the overall situation had initially remained under control.
Around 10:30am, some workers gathered in front of Sharmin Garments following the announcement of a closure at Knit Asia. However, the workers remained peaceful, and police handled the situation responsibly. After the management subsequently announced the closure of Sharmin Garments as well, workers left for their respective destinations and the road was cleared.
Later, a group of workers from Ananta Garments attempted to take to the road while throwing bricks and stones. Police rushed to the scene and spoke with them. As the factory management had already announced a closure, officers explained the situation to the workers, who eventually dispersed peacefully.
Sohel Ahmed further said police had exercised considerable restraint in handling the situation to prevent unrest and ensure normal traffic movement.
However, he added that the exact number of factories that had declared holidays could only be confirmed after consulting the police control room.