Vehicular movement resumed on major roads in Ashulia, Savar, on Wednesday afternoon following a 53-hour road blockade as protesting workers of Birds Group vacated it following assurances from the army.
Workers from four factories under Birds Group had been holding protests for the past three days, leading to severe traffic congestion on major roads in the area.
They began blocking both lanes of the highway at the Baipail point at about 8am on Monday. Despite heavy rain later that night, they continued their blockade, which persisted through Tuesday and was ongoing the next morning.
According to sources familiar with the matter, about 2,000 aggrieved workers from Birds Group's four factories – Birds RNR Fashions, Birds Garments, Birds Fadrex and Birds A & Z – blocked the road after the announcements of closures without the settlement of outstanding dues.
The protesters said their dues were supposed to be settled on Monday, but when they arrived at the factory that morning, they found a notice indicating that the time to settle dues had been extended by three months.
Babu, one of the protesting workers, said: "How can the owners make such a decision without discussing it with us? While there are no pending wages for the workers, some officials’ salaries might still be pending. Our service benefits, leave pay and other dues were supposed to be cleared by September 30.
"They announced a layoff for the running factories and closed them out of the blue. Workers with over a year of service are promised compensation, but what about those who have been employed for less than a year? Did they not suffer losses?"
Due to the protest, severe traffic congestion developed on the Nabinagar-Chandra, Bypail-Ashulia-Abdullahpur and Dhaka-Aricha highways, causing immense suffering for hundreds of thousands of people in the industrial area.
Numerous vehicles, including long-distance buses and goods trucks, were stuck in the traffic jam, extending for several kilometres.
Despite repeated attempts by the police and law enforcement agencies to negotiate with the workers during the 53-hour blockade, they continued to occupy the road.
Eventually, the army arrived at the spot and convinced the workers to clear the road.
Ashulia police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Bakar Siddique said the flow of traffic was now smooth.
