Garment workers protest in Tongi over 13 demands

Garment workers from two factories in Gazipur's Tongi area staged protests and halted work to push for their 13-point demands. 

On the second day of protest today (9 September), almost 3,000 workers from Garments Export Village Limited and Bravo Apparels staged the demonstrations at 9:00am in the BSCIC Industrial Area. 

Syed Rafiul Karim, officer-in-charge of Tongi East Police Station, said "After discussions in the afternoon, the factory owners agreed to pay one month's salary. They also assured that the other demands would be addressed. Consequently, the workers suspended their protest, and the factory was declared closed for the day, allowing the workers to go home."

Md Alamgir Hossain, deputy commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said, "Apparels Limited was supposed to pay salaries by the 7th. However, when they failed to do so, the workers began protesting instead of joining work. After police intervened and negotiated with the owners, a new salary date of the 12th was agreed upon, which the workers accepted and then returned home."

The protesting workers' demands include payment of salaries by the 7th of every month, increasing attendance bonuses to Tk1,000, a 15% wage hike, consolidated payment for 18 days of annual leave, an end to mistreatment by factory staff, stopping the blacklisting of workers' names, paying three months and 13 days' salary if dismissed, and increasing tiffin and night allowances, among others.

The protesting workers also emphasised that no worker or staff member should face harassment, abuse, or oppression. 

They insisted that the compliance department should not be controlled by any specific company and that the rightful demands of workers and staff representatives must be taken seriously. 

These demands should be officially acknowledged through a notice, said the workers.

They further announced that they would continue their protests until their demands are met.