Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday held a meeting with the home affairs and labour and employment ministers and other relevant officials amid a volatile situation triggered by violent readymade garment workers’ protests and clashes with police over their demand for a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000.
The meeting was held in the Cabinet Division conference room at the Secretariat in the evening.
Since the morning, protests, road blockades and vehicle arson had been reported in Mirpur in the capital, Kaliakair in Gazipur, and the industrial areas of Savar and Ashulia in Dhaka district. Around 300 factories in these areas declared holidays following the unrest.
Law enforcement agencies said leaders and activists of the Awami League (whose activities have been banned in the country) and its affiliated and associate organisations had joined the violent workers’ protests in Dhaka and Gazipur.
Among them was Sajmul Islam, organising secretary of the Jagannath University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, who led a procession in Kaliakair, Gazipur. Photographs of him leading the procession have circulated on social media.
Nine people affiliated with the Awami League, Sramik League and Chhatra League were arrested in Gazipur, while another 11 from the organisations were arrested in Mirpur.
Readymade garment workers in Gazipur began protesting and blockading roads at around 9:00 am, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000. Incidents of violence were also reported.
Traffic on the Dhaka–Tangail highway resumed at 3:00 pm after being suspended for nearly six hours because of the blockade.
In Mirpur, garment workers also staged protests and blocked roads over the same demand. Clashes and chases between protesters and police broke out repeatedly between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.
At one point, protesters set fire to a police vehicle beneath Mirpur 11 metro station. Following the clashes, Mirpur 10, Mirpur 11 and Pallabi metro stations remained closed from noon until 2.30 pm.
Against this backdrop, the prime minister met ministers and advisers from the relevant ministries.
Sources familiar with the meeting said those present included Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam, the prime minister’s adviser Mahdi Amin, and Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, chief coordinator of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s labour organisation, Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal.
Earlier in the afternoon, Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury met the prime minister to discuss the ongoing labour unrest in the garment industry and the overall situation.
The minister cancelled his planned visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of the protests.
At a press conference at the Secretariat on Sunday morning, the labour minister announced the formation of a new wage board to determine the minimum wage for garment workers.
Ariful Haque Choudhury said the government had already informed the media and representatives of workers and employers that the wage board would be formed on Sunday following discussions with them.
Despite this, the workers’ road blockades were causing public hardship, he said, urging the protesters to return to their workplaces.