160 RMG units shut as workers, cops clash
FROM PAGE 12
factories gathered in Kashimpur area of Gazipur and kept the Dhaka-Tangail highway blocked for almost an hour, witnesses said.
Law enforcers used teargas, beat up the workers and chased them away, witnesses said.
In Konabari, Gazipur, workers started protesting on the premises of Tusuka Garments around 3:00pm, workers said, adding that the management then called the police who arrived and beat up several workers.
The workers then threw brick chunks at the police and the factory windows, said witnesses.
Police then used teargas, sound grenades and firearms, and more police and teams of Rab went to the scene.
Law enforcers drove out the workers from the factory around 5:30pm.
AKM Ashraf Uddin, officer-in-charge of Konabari Police Station, refuted the allegation of assault.
Clashes between workers and police also took place on Abdullahpur-Baipail road in Narsinghapur, Ashulia. Several workers, a reporter named HM Atik, and Assistant Superintendent of Industrial Police ABM Rashidul Bari were injured by brick chunks thrown by demonstrators.
Arif, a worker of the Hameem Group, said he was working at the factory, and around 10:00am, the authorities said the factory would be closed immediately as demonstrating workers from other factories started gathering outside.
He added that he was injured by a piece of brick while walking out of the factory.
Police used teargas and firearms to bring the situation under control, said Inspector Riaz Uddin Ahmed Biplab of DB in Dhaka district (north).
Besides teams of police and Rab, 44 platoons of BGB were deployed in Dhaka, Gazipur, Ashulia and other areas where factories are located.
On October 30, garment worker Rasel Howlader, 26, died after Gazipur Industrial Police personnel allegedly shot him at close range, and on November 8, Anjuara Khatun, 28, a sewing machine operator of Islam Garments in Gazipur and mother of two children aged below 10, was shot dead as police opened fire on protesters.
STOP ‘CRACKDOWN ON WORKERS’
In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of Labor’s Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee said, “The US Department of Labor is deeply concerned over the escalation of violence and crackdown on workers and trade unionists in connection with Bangladesh’s minimum wage review. The department condemns the alleged police shootings of Rasel Howlader on Oct. 30, 2023, and Anjuara Khatun today….
“We call on the government of Bangladesh to respect workers’ freedom of assembly, end the violent crackdown on workers and conduct a full investigation of alleged police involvement in Howlader and Khatun’s killings.
“We also call for the immediate release of Jewel Miya, a labor organiser from the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation arrested in connection with the minimum wage protests.
“We urge the government of Bangladesh to revisit the recent minimum wage decision to ensure that it provides equitable compensation that meets the needs of workers and their families. To prevent future unrest, we also urge the amendment of existing labour laws to guarantee that all workers can fully exercise their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, as called for by the International Labor Organization.”