Workers of two factories -- Style Craft Limited and Young Ones BD -- staged a protest in Gazipur, demanding payment of their outstanding wages.
The protest was held on Sunday from 8am in front of the Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) office.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Wahiduzzaman of Gazipur Industrial Police said that the workers of the two garment factories were protesting to demand their due wages for the past 14 months.
The protesting workers said the factory authorities had paid Tk20,000 each to some workers during last Eid.
At that time, the authorities had announced that all outstanding dues would be cleared by Wednesday.
After waiting for three days without any response from the owners, they began protesting in front of the factories on Sunday morning.
During the demonstration in front of the factories, five female workers were injured in an attack allegedly carried out by individuals associated with the owners.
Mahfuz Mia, treasurer of the Gazipur branch of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union, said that a total of 1,800 workers were employed at Style Craft Limited and Young Ones BD.
The workers have been owed 14 months’ worth of wages.
Mahfuz claimed that, for a long time, the owners have been abusing their power and deliberately filing false cases against workers instead of paying their dues.
Kazi Ruhul Amin, general secretary of the Gazipur branch of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union, said that the workers are being forced to protest and demonstrate because of the factory owners’ failure to pay their legitimate dues.
He strongly demanded that all outstanding payments, including those at Style Craft, be settled immediately to maintain a healthy environment in the industry and protect the livelihoods of the workers.
Attempts to contact representatives of Style Craft Limited and Young Ones BD regarding the matter were unsuccessful.
