At least 50 factories suspended operations in Dhaka’s Mirpur and Ashulia and in Gazipur on Saturday as hundreds of garment workers demanding higher wages clashed with police, blocked major roads and brought traffic to a standstill across three industrial areas.
Several workers and police officers were injured as the protests turned violent.
Police used tear gas, sound grenades and batons to disperse the crowds, while several factories and shops were vandalised.
Fearing further damage, factory owners declared holidays at 13 factories in Mirpur, 25 in Ashulia and 12 in Gazipur.
The workers were demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000, an end to alleged blacklisting and the rehabilitation of dismissed colleagues.
Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, said workers could no longer support their families on the existing Tk12,500 minimum, with food, rent and medical costs all rising. Unless their demands were met, he warned, the protests would continue.
As the unrest spread, Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury announced on Saturday afternoon that a new wage board would be formed on Sunday to review garment workers’ pay, urging protesters to return to work.
Mirpur protests turn violent
In Mirpur, workers began blocking roads around Mirpur-10 and Mirpur-11 on Saturday morning. The situation escalated around noon when protesters clashed with police near the Shah Ali’s shrine and market area in Mirpur-1, under Shah Ali Police Station, after an altercation at Himalaya Garments spilled into clashes and chases. Several shops were vandalised.
Industrial Police said 13 factories declared holidays, among them Millennium Textile, Hesong Korea, Continental Garments and Textown Group.
The blockades caused widespread congestion, leaving commuters stranded for hours; traffic began returning to normal around 3pm once the protesters left the roads.
Mirpur Division Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohammad Naser Rikabdar said the vandalism near the Mirpur-1 market occurred after workers withdrew from Mirpur-10.
“Those involved in the vandalism will be identified through CCTV footage, and legal action will be taken against them,” he said.
Six police injured in Ashulia clashes
The fiercest clashes came in Ashulia, where workers from several factories stopped work and took to the streets of Kathgara Bazar, Noyapara, Zirabo and Nischintapur on Saturday morning. The protests quickly spread, and operations were suspended at 25 factories in Kathgara, Zirabo, Narsinghpur, Amtala and neighbouring areas.
Police and workers said protesters hurled bricks and stones at several factories, including Continental, AR Jeans and CWA, damaging windows and property; AR Jeans and other factories subsequently declared holidays. Around noon, demonstrators blocked the Abdullahpur-Baipail road near Nischintapur, and when police moved in to disperse them, clashes broke out.
Police used tear gas and sound grenades, leaving six police personnel as well as several workers and passers-by injured.
Amid the unrest, three objects resembling hand bombs were recovered from outside the New Age factory in Nischintapur, Industrial Police-1 Additional Superintendent of Police Syed Faisal Islam confirmed, adding that several people, including Industrial Police personnel, had been hurt in the clashes.
Industrial Police-1 Inspector Abul Kalam Azad said extra personnel had been deployed to prevent further violence, and Superintendent Mohammad Mominul Islam confirmed 25 factories had declared holidays.
Dhaka-Tangail highway blocked in Gazipur
In Gazipur, workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway from Saturday afternoon, gathering around the Chandra and Palli Bidyut areas of Kaliakair, and thousands of passengers and motorists were left stranded.
When police asked them to leave, the workers refused; at one stage they set fires on the highway and threw bricks and stones, and officers responded with sound grenades. Factory authorities declared holidays at around 10 to 12 establishments as tensions escalated.
Kaliakair Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shahidul Islam said the blockade began around noon and continued until 5pm.
Wage board announcement amid unrest
The unrest came amid mounting pressure to revise the minimum wage, which workers say has failed to keep pace with the cost of living.
The labour minister said the decision to form the board followed discussions with workers’ representatives and factory owners.
The announcement offered a possible route to negotiations, but the central demand for a Tk30,000 minimum wage remained unresolved.
By Saturday evening the violence had subsided, leaving dozens of factories closed and workers awaiting further government action on wages and their other demands.
