Vessel movement normal on second day of water transport workers' strike

Movement of river vessels have been found nearly normal until noon on the second day of indefinite strike called by the water transport workers.

Water Transport Workers’ Sangram Parishad called for the strike to press home their four-point charter of demands on Tuesday.

Communication between capital Dhaka and other areas, however, appeared somewhat unharmed as passenger vessels were seen departing from Sadarghat Launch Terminal normally without creating any hassle on Wednesday.

BIWTA Transport Inspector Dinesh Kumar Das said 24 passenger vessels left Sadarghat on Tuesday, which is half of the number found on normal days.

However, he said that no passenger vessel left the terminal during the first half of the first day of the strike.

Four passenger launches left for Chandpur, Barisal, Sureshwar and Muladi on Wednesday morning while many more were preparing for departure, Das said.

Bangladesh Water Transport Workers’ Federation President Md Shah Alam Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com that some passenger launches were operating following orders from their owners.

However, no cargo vessels left the terminal, he said.

“Some vehicles ply the streets during shutdowns called by the Awami League or the BNP. Similar thing is happening here but no cargo vessel is operating,” Bhuiyan said.

Sangram Parishad has called the strike demanding fixing of the minimum wage of transport workers at Tk 10,000, refixing of the rate of compensation for workers killed in accidents, steps to prevent theft, terrorism and extortion and preservation of the rivers' navigability.

Bhuiyan said that 17 organisations of water transport workers were participating in the strike while oil ferrying workers had stayed away as their demands were met by the owners.

“Other water transport workers numbering about 200,000 are involved in our movement,” he added.

Earlier the water transport workers had waged movements several times demanding pay hike.

Shah Alam Bhuiyan claimed that the shipping minister had promised to fix the minimum wage at Tk 10,000 following their movement on Apr 20. However, the promise was never fulfilled.