Workers block BRTC depot in Dhaka

Drivers and workers have locked the gates to the BRTC Joar Sahara Bus Depot in Dhaka to demand nine months of back pay.

Depot Manager Md Noor Alam told bdnews24.com that all operations at the depot have been halted since Tuesday morning due to the strike.

“The workers have been protesting since morning over some demands and so no buses have been able to leave.”

This strike has halted government-provided public bus service on the Abdullahpur-Motijheel, Gabtali-Gazipur, Kuril Biswa Road-Pachdona routes and staff buses for various government institutions.

BRTC directors Dr Nasim Ahmed and Mahbubur Rahman went to the depot and held a long meeting with manager Alam, who then sat for talks with the workers around 1pm.  

He told the workers that talks were continuing with the authorities over their demand and urged them to return to work, adding that otherwise they will be faced with legal action.

But the on-strike workers announced that they will resume work only if all their dues are cleared.

BRTC Chairman Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com that there is an on-going effort to clear the money owed to workers. But the authorities will take up legal action if workers continue to strike.
 
“They are being paid regularly for the last to seven to eight months. But a handful of people are behind this and they intend to destabilise the government.”     

One of the protesters told bdnews24.com that though the government had made assurances, the workers have yet to receive their back pay.

“We are owed nine months of back pay. It is hard to live life like this. We have to hear from our landlords every day. We cannot pay our children’s school fees. This cannot go on.”

The BRTC Joar Sahara Bus Depot operates 120 buses including double-deckers and air-conditioned buses. The workers are paid from the fares charged on these buses.

But losses in recent years have meant that the nearly 500 workers employed at the depot face regular delays to their salary.

The bus drivers at the depot had launched a protest in July of last year. At that time, they were owed ten months of back pay.

The BRTC has 22 depots across the country, six of which are in Dhaka. About 3,000 drivers, technicians, office assistants and security guards work at these depots. They receive third- and fourth-class pay according to the public sector wage scale.