Workers of a Gazipur factory blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway on Tuesday morning, demanding the timely payment of their salaries and a hike as per the new pay scale.
The incident took place at around 6:30am in the district’s Sreepur upazila.
Due to the protest, traffic congestion was created on both sides of the road, affecting office-goers and other factory workers.
On information, Industrial Police and Mawna Highway police station officials rushed to the spot and managed to disperse the workers at around 7am.
Several workers of the Zam Zam Spinning Factory said they are supposed to get paid by the first week of the month, but factory authorities often pay them after half the month has passed.
They also said they are getting paid Tk7,000, whereas they are supposed to get Tk9,000 as per the new wage scale.
They also claimed that they had talked to the factory authorities several times about the matter, but they did not take any steps.
Ariful Islam, administrative officer of Zam Zam Spinning Factory, said the workers blocked the highway with illogical demands. “We consistently pay them on schedule every month."
Ismail Hossain, sub-inspector (SI) of Mawna Highway police station, said that after being informed of the highway blockade, they talked to the factory authorities and assured the workers that their demands would be met.
