Garment Workers Block Road in Tongi Demanding September's Unpaid Wages and Reopening of Closed Factory

Garment workers have staged a protest by blocking a road in Tongi, Gazipur, demanding payment of their unpaid wages and the reopening of their closed factory.

They protested in front of Lucky Star Apparels Limited in the Uttar Auchpara area of Ward No. 54 of the city on Monday (October 26) at around 8am.

Local sources said that at one stage of the protest the workers took position on the local Khanpara-Tilargati regional road and stopped traffic. At around 9:30am, Tongi West police and industrial police reached the spot, persuaded the workers and moved them off the road. The workers then took position in front of the factory's main gate.

The protesting workers said about 950 workers work at the factory. Their wages and allowances for last September have still not been paid. Meanwhile, the authorities declared a general holiday from October 13 to October 28. Angered by the unpaid wages and the factory's closure, the workers came to their workplace on Monday morning and began the protest.

Several workers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that not receiving September's wages has put them in a financial crisis. They cannot pay their house rent and dues have piled up at shops. They are suffering with their families and children. They demanded quick payment of the unpaid wages as well as the reopening of the factory.

Attempts were made several times to contact the factory's admin manager, Md Fazle Azim, on his mobile phone over the matter, but he did not receive the calls.

Tongi West Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Arifur Rahman said, 'The factory authorities had declared a holiday without paying September's wages. The workers took to the road in the morning demanding recovery of the unpaid wages and the reopening of the factory. When police went to the spot and moved them off the road, traffic became normal. The situation is currently under control.'