Garment workers block Dhaka-Ctg highway for 2hrs over unpaid wages, causing 15km tailback
Workers of the same garment facility had also blocked the highway in 2024 and 2025 over unpaid wages
Garment workers staged a protest by blocking the Dhaka-Chattogram highway for nearly two hours in Chandina upazila of Cumilla, demanding payment of overdue wages and Eid bonuses, causing a traffic jam stretching about 15 kilometres on both sides of the highway.
According to officials and workers, employees of Denim Processing Plant Limited took to the highway today (10 March) after the factory failed to pay their wages for the last three months.
Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ashraful Islam said police officials, including officer-in-charge of Chandina Police Station and officer-in-charge of Elliotganj Highway Police Station, rushed to the spot and held talks with the factory authorities.
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"We spoke with the factory management, and they assured that the workers' outstanding wages and bonuses would be paid soon. After the assurance, the workers withdrew the blockade," he said.
Workers involved in the protest said each of them is owed between Tk30,000 and Tk40,000 due to the wage arrears, which forced them to take to the streets.
The blockade halted traffic movement on both lanes of the highway, triggering severe congestion. The gridlock spread across an estimated 15-kilometre stretch from Kutumbapur to Nuritala in the upazila.
Workers of the same garment facility had also blocked the highway in 2024 and 2025 over unpaid wages.
Jahangir Alam, founder and chief executive officer of Denim Processing Plant Limited, said the workers had been informed that they would receive their January wages by Thursday.
"The February wages and Eid bonus will be paid by 16 March," he added.
