Several thousand readymade garment workers went on strike and blocked Dhaka-Tangail highway for several hours yesterday at Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital demanding Eid bonus and advance wages in line with the new pay structure.

Earlier on Tuesday, workers of Cosmopolitan Industries Pvt Ltd (CIPL), Universal and Sew Industrial Park in the area staged demonstration.

Police and locals said around three thousand workers from Taha Textile Ltd at Kabirpur in Ashulia blocked Dhaka-Tangail highway for one and a half hours at 3pm, causing huge traffic jam in the area. Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, told The Daily Star that the garment workers after reaching their work places in the morning began staging a sit-in inside Taha Textile.

The workers shouted slogans demanding their bonus for upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and advance wages for the month.

At one stage, they took to the street and blocked the highway disrupting vehicular movement there.

Locals said police charged batons on the protesters to disperse them and brought the situation under control at around 4:30pm when the factory authorities arrived on the spot and assured the workers of paying salaries today. Being assured, the

agitating workers left the scene.

Police said no property was vandalised and none was arrested during the strike.

Contacted, Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said: “According to government order, the new pay structure is supposed to be effective from November 1. We are paying the salary for October and so the bonus will be paid in line with the old pay structure."

Pointing to the fact that financial capacity of all the RMG factory owners are not the same, the BGMEA chief urged the owners to consider the matter on humanitarian grounds.