RMG workers block highway for third day

Demand Tk 30,000 minimum wage; blockade, fire cause tailbacks

RMG workers, mostly women, blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in the capital’s Uttara for the third consecutive day yesterday, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000.

Workers from eight to 10 factories in Dakshinkhan marched to Azampur and gathered in front of Rajlakshmi Complex around 9:00am, carrying placards reading, “Why are commodity prices so high?” and “Tk 30,000 minimum wage”.

The blockade, coupled with a fire at a pharmaceutical factory in Tongi’s Cherag Ali area, caused severe traffic congestion stretching from Mohakhali to Gazipur.

With traffic halted from 10:30am, hundreds of commuters were forced to get off buses and walk to their destinations, while others took detours to use the metro rail.

Uttara East Police Station OC Morshed Alam said workers blocked both sides of the highway around 11:00am. Police persuaded them to clear the road around noon, but they regrouped near the airport and continued protesting until 1:00pm, after which traffic gradually normalised.

Protesters said rising prices of essentials, house rents and medical expenses had made it difficult to run their households on current wages.

Salma Begum, 28, a senior machine operator at Nipa Garments in Dakshinkhan, earns Tk 16,500 a month, while her auto-rickshaw driver husband earns Tk 15,000.

She sends Tk 10,000 monthly to her ailing parents and two school-going sons in Lalmonirhat. Her Dhaka landlord has also announced a rent increase from Tk 5,500 to Tk 6,000 in January.

“Despite bone-crushing labour, we cannot even afford decent meals,” she said, adding that she buys groceries worth Tk 2,000-3,000 on credit each month.

Mansura Begum, 25, a junior sewing operator at Amena Garments, echoed her.

“If commodity prices come down, there is no need to increase our wages,” Mansura said.