Transport workers strike nationwide after courts convict two drivers

Transport owners and workers have called for an indefinite strike following the conviction of two drivers in road accidents.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 28 Feb 2017, 06:37 AM
Updated : 28 Feb 2017, 01:13 PM

bdnews24.com correspondents have received confirmation of passenger and freight transport strikes now being enforced in Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia, Norhail, Dinajpur, Sirajganj, Mymensingh, Sylhet and several other districts.

Media reports say long-haul bus services have also come to a halt at Dhaka’s Gabtali Bus Terminal.

A television channel said passengers were asked to disembark from buses at the terminal.

The strike also affected businesses as several hundred freight trucks are now stuck at Jessore’s Benapole land port.

The strike has affected many and disrupted train and small transport services.

Though Tuesday is the first day of the strike nationwide, it started in 10 districts of Khulna on Sunday after a bus driver was jailed for life over a 2011 accident .

That accident had killed five, including filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer Mishuk Munier.

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On Monday, transport union leaders met with Khulna administration officials. After the meeting it was declared that the strike was over.

But the strike resumed after a nationwide call by the Bangladesh Transport Workers Federation, when a Dhaka court sentenced a truck driver to death over an accident in Savar, which had killed a woman.

 “Workers were upset when a bus driver was given a life sentence over an accident,” Bangladesh Road Transport Owners' Association Secretary General Khandker Enayet Ullah told bdnews24.com on Tuesday morning.

“We discussed on Monday and had almost resolved the issue, but later we learned a Dhaka court awarded the death penalty to a truck driver over an accident.

 “The aggrieved workers are now on an indefinite strike. We will discuss the matter with the government yet again,” said the transport sector leader.

“Transport workers have called a strike and transport is shut down nationwide,” said S Alam Transport Dhaka Region In-Charge Mohammad Monzur. “We are helpless in this situation. We are not for or against the strike.”

“This was the first time such a conviction has occurred, so workers are angry,” he said. “It is essential that this situation is resolved through dialogue.”

Services are not being operated as the drivers refused to work, said Dhaka-based operator 'Unique Paribahan' General Manager Abdul Haque.

"I have spoken to some of them, but no agreed to drive. That's why our services have been suspended," he told bdnews24.com.

Masudur Rahman, who drives a Chittagong-Kurhigram route bus, said buses are not plying on his route since Monday.

"I have been driving for 20 years. We even try to save a snake when it’s on the road, but we will not be able to drive if drivers are convicted (in road crashes)," he told bdnews24.com.

Passengers suffering

Hundreds of buses of different routes were seen parked empty at Dhaka's Sayedabad Inter-District Terminal on Tuesday morning with passengers stranded.

Failing to find any transport, many passengers left but some were still waiting.

Sylhet businessman Md Ali Newaz was found waiting with his wife and niece, hoping to catch a bus for home.

"We have been here since 9am, will leave even we manage to get on a local bus. We have no place to stay in Dhaka," he said while speaking to a bdnews24.com correspondent.

'Arif', who studies at a college in Dhaka, has waited for five hours since 7am to a catch a bus for Comilla.

Transport workers at the capital's Mohakhali stopped a bus coming from Gazipur around 11am. The driver said they were not being allowed to go in front of the inter-district terminal in the area.

"We have no problem operating services, but we are stopped from going to the terminal," he said while speaking to a bdnews24.com correspondent.

Asadul Haque, who works at a private firm, had to wait for over an hour at the Kurhil bus stop to catch a bus for Motijheel. "I had to wait for long to get on a bus and now they have stopped us at Mohakhali."

No buses left from the Gabtali terminal at the northern part of the city.

'Hanif Paribahan' General Manager Md Mosharraf Hossain said services have been stopped as drivers refuse to work.  "None of our buses have left the Gabtali terminal."

A workers union leader said the nationwide strike was not a pre-announced programme.

"As far as I know, no (workers') organisation has called the strike. The drivers are refusing to work and we cannot force anyone. Everyone has the right to protest, said Shahidul Haque, the joint general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers' Federation.