The workers of Alim Jute Mills Limited in Khulna yesterday blocked the Khulna-Jessore Highway demanding their due payment and protesting privatisation of the mill.
All kinds of vehicular movement came to a halt on the highway as the protesting workers blocked the road from 1pm to 5pm.
Sources said the workers under the banner of Privatisation Resistance Committee, staged demonstration in front of the mill in the morning.
Later they took up positions on the highway.
Convenor of the resistance committee Abdus Rashid presided over the blockade programme where workers’ leader Abdus Salam Jamaddar, Syful Islam Mintu, Sarder Abdul Hamid, Mujibur Rahman Makbul, Abbas Ali, Iqbal Hossain, Sheikh Zakaria, Anwar Hossain, Abed Ali , Redowan Hossain Bahar, Babul Reza, Akbar Ali, Hafez Abdus Salam and Rafiqul Islam spoke.
According to the Dhaka Tribune reports, more than 2,000 workers of the mill have to lead sub-human life as their salary has not been given for six months after its administrative power was handed over to private sector.
Md Anwarul Haque, project manager of the mill, said production had been suspended since the factory’s privatisation.
A lot of goods worth about Tk4 crore have been lying unsold in the mill due to negligence of the authorities.
The workers with their family members have to lead inhuman life as their salary has been unpaid for a long time, he says.
Munshi Rafiqul Islam, chief accountant of the mill, said Jaglul Alim, managing director of the mill had been given the charge six months back.
Lokman Hakim, leader of the workers, said the group took the charge of ownership of the mill by making fake documents, he said.
Jaglul Mahmud, managing director of Messers Shilpa Partisthan, said the BJMC had not handed over the charge of the mill to Alim group yet.
Rafiqul Islam. Co-ordinator of the BJMC said, the administratve power had been given to Alim group six months back. But they could not enter the mill due protest of the workers’ union.
The CBA and non-CBA workers started to protest against the privatisation of the state-owned jute mill under the banner of Alim Jute Mill Privatisation Resistance Committee after the process to privatise the jute mill started in May following a court order.
They said they would continue their movement.
CBA leader Abdus Salam Jamaddar said: “We will stay on the highway until our ultimate success.”
