Around 300 garment workers of Padma Wears Limited, a garment manufacturing unit in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (EPZ), protested in front of Bay Shopping Center at the Chittagong EPZ intersection demanding wages due for last three months, on 19 May (Wednesday).
This was underlined in media reports which claimed that General Manager of Chittagong EPZ, Moshiuddin bin Mesbah, has, reportedly, confirmed workers of the above-mentioned apparel factory holding demonstrations even as the General Secretary of the Padma Wears Limited Workers’ Welfare Association, Mohammad Ibrahim, on his part alleged the workers have not been paid their monthly salaries since February and full salary for January was also not paid by the factory owner, who further went on to add that the factory was closed down without paying Eid-ul-Fitr bonus, service benefits and provident fund money.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Superintendent of Chittagong Industrial Police, Mohammad Solaiman, maintained that before the agitating workers could cause a traffic jam, they were removed when they tried to block the road on Wednesday morning even as according to the latest statistics available with BEPZA, around 1,100 workers were employed in this 100 per cent export-oriented Padma Wears Limited since its inception in 2005 even though the factory has, reportedly, been laying off workers since February this year and the unit was in the process of being auctioned off.
