Garment workers have blocked a road in Dhaka’s Uttara for the third consecutive day, demanding back pay and an increase in wages.
The blockade by workers from several garment factories in the area has caused severe traffic congestion on the road from the airport to Abdullahpur.
Traffic came to a halt when workers took to the road in the Azampur-Rajlakshmi area of Uttara around 9:15am on Thursday, said Mabian Mia, assistant commissioner of the DMP Traffic Uttara West Zone.
Around noon, the workers cleared the road and opened the road to traffic once more, he said.
The blocking of the Dhaka thoroughfare led to heavy congestion on both sides of the road and in the surrounding areas.
Commuters, passengers and pedestrians faced hardship as traffic ground to a halt in the intense heat.
After long waits for buses, many departed for their destinations on foot.
Police officer Mabian said, "We have persuaded the workers to clear the road. Despite this, the important road was been closed for a long time, resulting in heavy traffic jams."
"Traffic has begun to move on both sides of the road after the workers cleared out, but the speed is slow due to the long traffic jam. It will take some time to normalise."
Police are trying to keep the traffic it moving as normal, he said.
Law enforcers say traffic on the highway has seen severe disruption due to three consecutive days of protests by the workers.
The workers say that they will continue their blockades if their demands are not met.
Among their demands is back pay for workers, while another is to raise their minimum basic salary to Tk 30,000.
They say it is impossible to get by on their current wages due to the high prices of daily necessities. Although they have drawn the attention of authorities to the matter several times, no solution has been found, they said.
As such, they allege they are forced to take to the streets.
Uttara West Police Station chief Khalid Mansur said that they have also informed the concerned authorities to resolve the matter.
"They have removed themselves and now the road is clear. But due to this regular road blockade, the public has to suffer every day."