Garment factory workers have blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Bagher Bazar in Gazipur, demanding higher attendance bonuses.
The protest, initiated by employees of the Mondal Intimates factory, part of the Pallmall Group, started on Sunday morning.
As a result, the highway experienced severe traffic jams, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.
Both the army and industrial police have been deployed to control the situation and restore normalcy.
The workers, who have been pressing for increased attendance bonuses for several days, arrived at the factory on Sunday but refused to work. Instead, they took to the highway, bringing traffic to a standstill in both directions.
Simultaneously, employees from Asrotex Limited in Sreepur’s Natun Bazar also went on strike, demanding a minimum attendance bonus of Tk 1,000, as well as increases in tiffin allowances and salaries according to their pay scales.
“Workers from two factories are staging protests. Mondal Intimates Limited workers have blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. We are currently in talks with the management of both factories and expect the situation to be resolved soon,” said Assistant Superintendent SM Azizul Haque of the industrial police’s Sreepur Camp.
