15 Gazipur RMG factories declare holiday as workers demand wage hike
Workers with less than one year of service say they also deserve 9% salary hike like others
Workers of a garment factory today (5 January) staged a demonstration on the Chandra-Nabinagar road in Gazipur's Zirani area, demanding a wage increase.
Workers of nearby factories joined the demonstration and blocked the road, prompting the authorities of 15 factories to declare a holiday.
Abu Taleb, assistant superintendent of industrial police-2 in Gazipur, told TBS that additional police forces were deployed in the area.
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He said the vehicular movement resumed after the workers left the highway at noon.
Workers and locals said workers of Irish Fashion Limited took to the road in the morning demanding an increase in their wages. Later, workers from other factories joined the demonstrators.
A government decision mandates a 9% salary increase for workers who have completed one year of service.
However, according to industrial police, workers with less than one year of service staged demonstrations on the road, demanding a wage hike.
Ashraful Islam, a worker at Irish Fashion, said, "Those who were appointed earlier are workers, and we, who have been working for 7-8 months, are also workers. If their salaries increase, ours should also increase."
