On Saturday morning, workers from the Giant Knit garment factory staged a large protest, blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to demand the reopening of their factory, annual leave, and pending bonuses. The demonstration began at 7 am and involved around 2,000 workers who halted traffic in both directions in the Bypass and Joydebpur Chourasta areas for two hours.
The protest was sparked by a factory closure notice issued earlier that day, prompting workers to voice their concerns after previous attempts to negotiate with factory management regarding their leave and bonuses had yielded no results.
According to Traffic Police Sub-Inspector Abdullah Al Mamun, the situation was defused at approximately 9:15 am when police persuaded the workers to temporarily clear the road, restoring traffic flow. However, tensions remained high as workers expressed their frustrations.
Gazipur Industrial Police Sub-Inspector Faruk Hossain noted that this protest followed a similar demonstration on Thursday, where workers had already raised issues concerning their leave and bonus payments. In response to those protests, factory management issued a closure notice under section 13/1, which prompted the subsequent highway blockade.
Attempts to contact factory authorities for a statement regarding the situation were unsuccessful. However, Industrial Police confirmed they are actively working to address the workers’ demands and resolve the ongoing issue as quickly as possible.
