A tense situation is prevailing in the industrial area of Ashulia centering around worker unrest. Demanding the minimum wage to be fixed at Tk 30,000, stopping blacklisting, and various other demands, workers of several garment factories started protests from Saturday (October 31) morning. During this time, incidents of brick-batting and vandalism took place at several factories. To control the situation, a general holiday has been declared in at least 13 garment factories in the Kathgara area and surrounding localities of Ashulia. Additionally, an industrial police member was injured by bricks hurled by protesting workers during the demonstration.
According to industrial police and workers, worker unrest spread to various garment factories in Ashulia's Kathgara Bazar, Amtola, Noyapara, and surrounding areas after 8:00 AM on Saturday. In the morning, workers of Naim Knitwear first started a work stoppage inside the factory and later came out onto the road to protest. At one point, angry workers hurled bricks targeting several surrounding factories, resulting in vandalism at Continental Garments, AR Jeans, and CWA, among others. As the situation grew heated, authorities declared a general holiday in the factories.
According to information received from the industrial police, the factories where holidays were declared include Millennium Textile Limited, Hesong Korea Limited, Continental Garments Limited, Textown Group, Afia Knitwear Limited, Naim Knitwear Limited, Jihan Garments Industries Limited, Ledrex Footwear Limited, Everbright Sweater Limited, Green Life Neetex Limited, and Picard Bangladesh Limited, along with other factories. The industrial police stated that a general holiday has been declared in at least 13 factories in total.
Read next Garment Workers Block Highway in Kaliakair, Gazipur Demanding a Minimum Monthly Wage of Tk 30,000Meanwhile, an industrial police member suffered a serious head injury from bricks hurled by the demonstrators. He was later rescued and admitted to the hospital. When police attempted to control the situation, chase-and-counter-chase incidents occurred between the police and the workers.
On the other hand, a tense situation is prevailing between workers and police in the Nishchintapur area of Ashulia. Additional police and law enforcement personnel have been deployed at important locations in the industrial zone to avoid untoward incidents. Police are working to observe and control the situation.
Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, Superintendent of Police for Ashulia Industrial Police-1, stated that a general holiday has been declared in 13 garment factories so far due to worker unrest, and this number may increase depending on the situation. An industrial police member was injured by bricks thrown by workers and is receiving medical treatment. Police are working to bring the situation under control.
However, despite attempts to contact responsible officials of the factories, they declined to comment.
— Daily Best News Desk • Fearless in the search for truth
Reported by Savar (Dhaka) Correspondent • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
