Gazipur factory workers clash with officials, halt work over unpaid night bills

Fed up with months of unpaid night allowances, workers clash with management

Tensions have boiled over at Ripon Knitwear in Gazipur as workers, frustrated over unpaid night allowances and annual leave pay, clashed with officials and vandalised factory property in a second consecutive day of protest.

The work stoppage began at 9am on Thursday, with workers confronting several factory officials.

At one point, they physically assaulted staff and vandalised parts of the facility.

The situation calmed only after management assured partial payment in the afternoon.

Gazipur Industrial Police-2 Konabari zone Inspector Md Morshed Zaman said, “To maintain law and order, sufficient metropolitan and industrial police were deployed. Once the overdue night bills began to be paid, the workers ended their protest.”

Workers had initially begun their strike around Wednesday noon, demanding three months of unpaid night allowances and annual leave pay, suspending it by 5pm.

Returning Thursday morning at 8am, tensions reignited when payment discussions with officials turned confrontational, culminating in assaults and damage to the assembly area.

A cutting section operator, requesting anonymity, said: “We routinely work until 11pm or midnight. Yet, night bills are not paid properly. Even during Ramadan, our shifts extend to 11pm.”

Section in-charge Mizanur Rahman added, “The strike resumed Thursday morning, escalating to attacks on staff and property. I barely managed to escape.”

Administrative officer Md Saddam Hossain said management initially offered one month’s night bill and later pledged to pay all three months of night wages and pending annual leave by Sunday.

The partial payments began at 3pm, bringing the unrest under control.