Police baton charge as RMG workers block city roads

In an attempt to disperse protesting ready-made garments workers on Monday police attacked them with batons and fired rounds of tear shells in the capital’s Mirpur. The workers also staged demonstrations in the capital’s Ibrahimpur, Uttara, Azampur’s Dhakshin Khan and Uttarkhan areas for the fourth consecutive day in demand of a pay rise amid the sudden price hike of daily essentials.

Hundreds of workers took to the streets of Mirpur 13 around 8:30am Monday which ensued police brutality around 9am. The protestors also fought back but had to retreat to the alleys while the police have taken position on the main roads. Workers tried to regroup again at Mirpur 13 around 10am but the police chased them away. A number of factories have been closed in Mirpur, according to sources.

One of the protestors Saif said, “We staged the protest with a logical demand but the police attacked us. Many of us were injured. We will continue our protest till our demands are met. We will stage a protest again on tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.”

Assistant Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Md Mahbub said, “We have dispersed the workers who staged a protest on Monday morning and they have not returned. Five of our officers have been injured by brickbats thrown by the protestors.” Workers say they are having a hard time coping with rising commodity prices. Therefore, they are urging a review of the existing wage board.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), inflation has risen by almost 20% in the three-and-a-half years from January 2020 to April last year, following a rise in wages for workers in the sector. Although labour organisations claim, this rate is much higher.

RMG entrepreneurs are feeling the pressure already when it comes to increasing the wages of the workers anew.

At present the minimum wage of garment workers is Tk8,000 per month. Shovon Islam, managing director of Sparrow Group, which exports garments worth about $200 million a year and employs about 14,000 workers, said, “Inflation has increased, true, so has worker wages.”

Workers of several garments also demanded their dues and protested against the abrupt sacking of their colleagues.