United News of Bangladesh

Garment workers staged demonstrations and blocked roads in Dhaka and Gazipur on Sunday, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000, disrupting traffic and triggering clashes with police. In Dhaka, workers from several garment factories in the Mirpur area blocked the Mirpur-10 intersection around 9:00am, bringing traffic to a standstill on several connecting roads. Several hundred workers gathered at the intersection and blocked roads connecting Mirpur-11 with Agargaon and Mirpur-2 with Mirpur-13, witnesses said. A senior female officer of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Traffic Division said traffic remained suspended since around 9:00am due to the blockade. Later, the protesting workers engaged in a clash with police who tried to disperse them. Earlier, garment workers blocked several roads in Mirpur for around five hours each on October 29 and Saturday, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000. Following Saturday’s blockade, some workers also vandalised several garment factories and shopping malls.