Over 300 workers from the HDF Apparels factory blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Jaina Bazar in Sreepur upazila, Gazipur, on Thursday, demanding payment of their March wages and Eid bonuses.
The workers began their protest around 10:30am, staging a sit-in on the highway. The demonstration caused heavy traffic congestion stretching several kilometres on both sides of the road.
The workers said they were forced to take to the streets after the factory authorities failed to pay their dues before Eid as promised.
Earlier this month, on April 10, the factory management had announced its closure without settling the outstanding wages and bonuses, they said.
Later that day, the management put up another notice, assuring the workers that all dues, including the Eid bonus, would be cleared by Thursday, the protesters added.
However, workers claimed that the management posted a fresh notice on the factory gate this morning, announcing that the factory would reopen on April 22, without any mention of settling the unpaid wages.
"The management is wasting time by repeatedly issuing closure notices without offering a clear solution to our rightful dues. Left with no choice, we had to block the highway today," said one of the protesting workers.
Efforts to contact any factory official over the phone were unsuccessful.
Maona highway police station Officer-in-Charge Ayub Ali said: "Since 10:30am, workers have been blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Jaina Bazar area. This has led to severe traffic congestion stretching several kilometres. Members of the Industrial Police are on site trying to restore normalcy, but the workers have yet to lift the blockade," he said.
Inspector Abdul Latif Khan of the Gazipur Industrial Police’s Sreepur unit said: "We have been trying to contact the HDF management, but they are not answering our calls."
