Workers block Dhaka-Sylhet highway for 2 hours demanding salary and allowances

A protest has started at a rod manufacturing factory in Rupganj, Narayanganj demanding arrears of salary and allowances. Angry workers have started the protest by blocking the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The agitated workers blocked the highway by burning tires and throwing tree trunks, stopping the movement of vehicles. As a result, the movement of vehicles on both sides of the road was stopped, causing extreme suffering to passengers and pedestrians. The protest took place at the Premier Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited factory in the Ariab area of ​​Tarab Municipality in Rupganj Upazila on Wednesday (October 29) afternoon.
The aggrieved workers said that about two hundred workers work at the Premier Steel Rolling Mills Limited factory. For the past four months, the owner has been paying the arrears of salary and allowances to the workers. The workers are going without food day after day due to non-payment of the arrears of salary and allowances. Workers are always facing problems after collecting the remaining money. Shopkeepers are pressuring the workers to pay the money they owe and do not always pay the remaining money. Landlords are also pressuring the workers for house rent. In such a situation, the workers are in extreme crisis. Faced with pressure from the workers, the owners assured the arrears of salaries and allowances to the council this morning.
When the owners tried to finalize the 20-day arrears of salaries and allowances, the workers did not accept it. At one point, the workers got agitated and started a protest inside the factory. At one point in the protest, the agitated workers blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in front of the factory. Later, the protesters set tires on fire and threw tree trunks on the road. The workers blocked continuously from 1 pm to 3 pm. This resulted in long traffic jams on both sides of the road, causing inconvenience to both passengers and pedestrians.
In this regard, factory contractor Mintu Mia said, “We have tried to collect one month’s worth of arrears from the workers, but the workers have not accepted it. We are trying to meet the workers’ demands by talking to the owner.” In this regard, Rupganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Tariqul Islam told us, “Police have been sent to the spot after receiving information about the workers’ dissatisfaction. We are trying to resolve the workers’ demands by talking to the owner. Currently, traffic movement on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway is normal.”