Laid-off Crony Group workers in N’ganj end road blockade after army assures payment of dues

Readymade garment workers in Narayanganj have withdrawn from a five-hour regional road blockade demanding payment of unpaid wages following assurances from Bangladesh Army officials that the protesters will get their money soon.

Workers from Crony Garments and Abanti Colour Tex Ltd - both owned by Crony Group - at the BSCIC in Fatullah of Narayanganj had blocked the Dhaka-Pagla-Munshiganj road at around 11am in the city.

Visiting the protesters in the afternoon, Bangladesh Army Major Ashraf said, "The owner is in hiding without paying the salary. In order to pay your salary, [assets of] these two companies will be auctioned and your salary will be paid."

Following his assurance, the protesters left the road in the evening at around 5:00pm. 

During the protest, the workers also vandalised several factories in the BSCIC area, prompting the deployment of police and army personnel to control the situation.

Both of the factories in question laid off all of their staff - around 9,000 - in February this year after failing to pay wages to employees for several months.

Since then, the laid-off workers have been protesting for their unpaid wages. 

"We have protested over and over again. Many meetings have taken place with the owners. But they haven't paid us. Today, we felt we must come out on the streets again," said one of the protesters.

Narayanganj Industrial Police Inspector Salim Badsha said, "The owners of Crony and Abanti factories have not paid the workers' salaries. The dissatisfaction of the workers is long-standing. We have taken the initiative to solve it."