Several thousand garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in the capital’s Uttara area on Thursday morning, demanding an increase in minimum wages, timely payment of wages and an end to arbitrary worker layoffs.
The blockade brought traffic on both sides of the highway to a complete standstill, triggering severe traffic congestion on the highway and surrounding roads and causing immense suffering to commuters, long-distance bus passengers and pedestrians.
Uttara West Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khalid said workers from various garment factories in Uttara began blocking the main road in Azampur area around 9:30am.
They later blocked the road near Rajlaxmi under Uttara West Police Station.
He estimated that 5,000 to 7,000 workers were occupying the roads, carrying sticks and other wooden objects.
Police have been deployed on both sides of the highway and are trying to persuade the workers to withdraw the blockade, the OC said.
He added that workers also blocked the road on Wednesday, but police later managed to clear it through persuasion.
Witnesses said workers from different garment factories have been staging demonstrations in various lanes of Uttara since Thursday morning before moving to the Azampur area and blocking the main road.
The blockade caused severe congestion on both sides of the Airport-Abdullahpur highway, leaving vehicles in long queues and disrupting movement across Uttara and adjacent areas.
Hundreds of passengers travelling on long-distance buses were stranded in traffic.
Unable to reach their destinations on time, many got off their buses and continued on foot, while commuters heading to work and people travelling for urgent purposes faced considerable hardship.
--UNB