Garment workers submitted a memorandum of demands to the chief adviser’s office on Monday, while several hundred others from Stylecraft and Youngone BD factories protested by locking the main gate of the Department of Labour in Bijoynagar.
The protestors said that unless their outstanding salaries, Eid bonuses, and other demands are met, they will not allow any officials to enter the building, Bangla Tribune reports.
However, workers from TNZ staged their protest on nearby roads without obstructing the entry of labour officials, according to labour leader Shahidul Islam.
He said they would wait until 7pm on Monday before announcing new programs, with no other activities planned for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, from 9am to 1pm, workers from Stylecraft and Youngone BD did not allow any officials or employees to enter the premises, having locked the main gate.
They had been protesting there since morning, displaying banners at the entrance. They announced that without a concrete declaration addressing their demands, no one would be allowed inside.
At 11:30am, worker representatives and a few labour leaders from the two factories went to the chief adviser’s office in Tejgaon to submit a memorandum.
Among the labour leaders were KM Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Garments and Sweater Workers Trade Union Centre, and Stylecraft Limited worker representatives Raju Ahmed and Salma Akter.
Amir Hossain, a leader of the workers' movement in the two factories, told Bangla Tribune in the morning that 1,058 workers are owed Tk20 crore 86 lakh in 14 months' worth of unpaid wages.
They have been protesting for the past 10 months over this and other demands, including Eid bonuses.
Although the factory authorities have given repeated assurances, they have failed to deliver.
Meanwhile, a Department of Labour official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that although the factory owners have absconded, the government is trying to fulfill the workers’ demands.
Nevertheless, he expressed regret that the protest is disrupting official activities.
