Due to unpaid salaries, workers at clothing manufacturers in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) and the adjacent Gate 2 sector protested, seriously disrupting the city.
Since this morning, workers at Thianis Apparels Ltd., which is situated on Road No. 2, Sector 3, have been demonstrating at the CEPZ in order to demand their unpaid salary. Despite several assurances, the firm, which employs about 700 people, has failed to pay wages for March and April. Anisur Rahman Khan, the company’s managing director, said that payment would be made by Monday, citing the suspension of production and export activity as the reasons for the delay. Employees, however, complained about being repeatedly delayed and losing faith in promises.
Separately, over 600 Rahima Garments employees gathered in Chattogram’s 2 no Gate neighbourhood and blocked the flyover road in protest of their unpaid payments for the previous three months. With tailbacks extending as far as Bayezid Bostami, the demonstration started early in the morning and caused significant traffic congestion along the major road. Workers expressed their ire at plant officials for not keeping their commitments, pointing out that despite several guarantees, salaries for March and April have not yet been paid.
Traffic in the city was badly affected by the protests, which resulted in lengthy delays for commuters and students going to tests. Despite severe traffic congestion that lasted throughout the afternoon, Khulshi Police Station police officers managed the situation with two teams and eventually convinced the workers to leave.
Officials from Chattogram Industrial Police and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) claim that the issue has gotten out of hand because of the general mistrust among the employees. The factory management has pledged to pay the outstanding balance by Monday and has expressed regret for the delay, attributing it to a lack of export and production operations.
About 200 Thianis Apparels employees are still demonstrating, but they should soon put an end to it, according to Jashim Uddin, Additional Superintendent of Chittagong Industrial Police. In order to establish a long-term solution, he also mentioned continuing talks with BEPZA.
The demonstrations draw attention to persistent issues with wage payments in Bangladesh’s export-oriented clothing industry. Workers still want factory officials to be held accountable and pay them on schedule.
