At least 60 people were injured in clashes between agitated workers of two garments factories and law enforcement personnel in Ashulia and Narayanganj Monday.
Mustafizur Rahman, director of industrial police of Ashulia division, told the Dhaka Tribune that workers of a garments factory of Ha-Meem Group in Ashulia took to the streets at around 8am demanding a minimum wage of Tk8,000 and “protection from repression”.
A clash broke out when police officials tried to disperse the demonstrators who put the Abdullahpur-Baipail road under a blockade, said Sheikh Badrul Alam, officer-in-charge of Ashulia police station.
At one point, workers vandalised a number of other factories by hurling stones and brickbats and called upon the workers of those to join their demonstration.
Vehicular movements came to a total halt at that time. Police finally managed to chase them away at around 11am, lobbing dozens of rounds of teargas shells and firing rubber bullets, Badrul Alam said.
Apart from the demand for salary hike and “protection”, workers also demanded wages for the three days that their factory were closed from May 13 to 16, due to a labour unrest following the suicide attempt of a female colleague.
Lipi Akhter, 19, a worker in the factory, reportedly took her own life after having been jilted by one of the supervisors in the company.
Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told reporters that a team has been sent to the area to talk to the workers and pacify them.
Police beefed up security in the troubled spot to avert further occurrences.
In Narayanganj, at least 10 workers of a sweater factory were injured in a clash with police at the Panchabati area of Fatulla thana yesterday evening.
Workers, having finished their day’s work, suddenly poured onto the adjacent street and started demonstrating with the demand to reappoint their sacked colleagues and also increase their wages.
On information, officials from both industrial police and local police station rushed to the spot.
Tension mounted as a labour leader proposed to negotiate their terms with the factory management but was refused by the latter, leading to further unrest. The demonstrators took up positions in the Dhaka-Munshiganj road halting traffic movement.
To disperse them and make the road free for movement, police fired at least eleven rounds of shotgun shells and two rounds of teargas shells, the officer in charge of Fatulla police station said.
The situation was back to normal, he added.
