Garment workers block road in Gazipur to demand backpay

Lengthy tailbacks could be seen on both sides of the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway due to the protest, a local trader says

Workers at the BSIS garments factory in the Ershadnagar area of Gazipur’s Tongi have blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, demanding unpaid wages.

The blockade began at 8am on Tuesday and the protesters eventually took up positions on the highway, according to Md Mehedy Hasan, assistant police commissioner of the Tongi Zone of Gazipur Metropolitan Police.

Nurul Islam, a local trader from the Ershadnagar area, said: “There is heavy traffic congestion on both sides of the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway due to the workers’ blockade. It is causing great difficulties for commuters.”

Law enforcers are speaking to the workers and are attempting to get them to clear the road, according to Faridul Islam, chief of Tongi East Police Station.