Workers from five garment factories of the TNZ Group in Gazipur called off their blockade on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Mogorkhal in the city Monday evening after staging protests there for three days.
The blockade had brought public life to a standstill and caused a 20-kilometre tailback on both sides of the highway during the protesting hours.
The workers called off the blockade on Monday evening as the labour ministry and the factory owners pledged to pay the first instalment of Tk 6 crore in wages on November 17.
Following a meeting with workers鈥� and factory owners鈥� representatives at Shrama Bhaban in Dhaka on Monday evening, the labour secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman announced that the remaining dues would be settled by November 30.
The funds will primarily be disbursed from the labour ministry鈥檚 Workers鈥� Welfare Fund, and the factory owner will repay the amount to the ministry after a specified period.
The workers of the TNZ Group began blocking the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Mogorkhal in Gazipur city on Saturday morning, demanding the payment of overdue wages and allowances and the reopening of closed factories.
After 53 consecutive hours, the workers lifted their blockade at about 2:30pm on Monday, the third day of the protest, following an assurance of wages from government officials.
A group of workers, just two hours later, returned to the same spot and reiterated their demand for payment.
Public life in Gazipur came to a standstill due to the siege that resulted in a traffic jam stretching about 20 kilometres on both sides of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
Hundreds of vehicles became stuck on alternative routes, including the Dhaka-Tangail and the Dhaka-Bypass highways, leading to extensive traffic congestion.
Passengers, including those in ambulances with patients, endured severe hardship due to the overwhelming gridlock.
The situation sparked widespread anger among people from various sectors, including students, who were affected due to the delays.
According to sources from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the authorities of 27 factories declared their units closed for Monday to prevent potential vandalism amid the labour unrest within the TNZ Group.
According to a report from the Department of聽 Inspection for Factories and Establishments, wages for September and October remained unpaid, amounting to approximately Tk 15 crore across five factories in the group.
The payment date for the wages has been rescheduled four times, but has been missed on each of the occasions, it said.
DIFE report said that the workers had intermittently blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh road since October 27, demanding guarantees regarding the payment of their wages and allowances.
The Gazipur office of the DIFE had held multiple meetings with the owners, workers, and labour leaders in an attempt to resolve the issues through negotiation.
However, the non-payment of dues as per the owners鈥� agreement, along with the failure to pay regular wages and allowances, have led to widespread worker dissatisfaction, the DIFE report mentioned.
It also said that several cases had been filed in the Gazipur Labour Court under Sections 121 and 123 of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 for the non-payment of regular salaries and allowances in the five factories of TNZ group.
抖阴精品 Gazipur Correspondent reported that, from Monday morning, district administration representative, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ershad Miah and senior officers from the army, Rapid Action Battalion, and the police, arrived at the site to address the workers and attempted to clear the road.
