Workers of a garment factory in Bangladesh’s industrial belt Savar, on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, demonstrated demanding arrears on ‘May Day’.
Around 11:30 am on May 1, 2018, over 650 workers of one Abbas Apparels Ltd. came down on the Dhaka-Aricha highway and demonstrated peacefully for hours before police took them away upon assurance.
According to what could be known to Apparel Resources, the garment workers of the factory were being paid irregularly. Some alleged, they had arrears of two months.
Poly Saha, a demonstrating worker, said the factory management assured them of clearing all dues last Thursday, “but when we went to the factory, we saw it was padlocked and there were nobody of the management there. We have been forced to come down to the streets.”
The protests that lasted for nearly three hours had halted vehicular movement along the primary link road between Aricha and Dhaka, according to police. Being a national holiday on the occasion of May Day, the tailback that ensued was relatively short.
Khorshed Alam, Additional Police Superintendent of Savar circle, told Apparel Resources that the workers were demonstrating for dues and that lawmen took them off the highway peacefully around 3:30 pm.
Last reported, the police officials were in an emergency meeting with the workers, who were adamant on pursuing protests until their arrears are cleared.
It is to be noted that nobody from the factory management could be found at site or the factory premises.
