Many workers of nine state-run jute mills in Khulna fell sick as they continued their fast-unto-death for the fourth consecutive day yesterday to press home their 11-point demand.

The demands include implementation of the 2015 wage commission award and timely payment of wages.

Abdul Hamid, convener of Collective Bargaining Agents (CBAs) and non-CBA Sangram Parishad, claimed that 20 workers were admitted to local hospitals and clinics since the beginning of the protest at 3:00pm on Sunday.

Besides, at least 576 others became ill during the same period.

Yesterday, around 200 students of Platinum High School joined the demonstration on BIDC road in Khulna city’s Khalishpur area. Many of them are dependents of jute workers.

During a visit there, this correspondent met Sumaiya Parvin and her elder sister Robina, students of class IV and VII at the school. Their father Mizanur Rahman is a worker of Platinum Jute Mills.

“My father cannot maintain our four-member family smoothly due to poverty. How would he bear our educational expenses?” she said.

Sumaiya said her father was trying to send them to their village in Gopalganj’s Moksedpur upazila within a month as he was struggling to meet basic household costs.

Sahana Sharmin, president of Platinum Jute Mills Employees Union, said the deputy commissioner of Khulna had asked them to sit in a meeting with him on Tuesday night, but they didn’t agree.

“State Minister [for labour and employment] Monnujan Sufian had taken the workers’ movement to the wrong path by requesting the workers to refrain from carrying out the movement. Now we don’t have trust in any such requests,” she said.

Sahana said many workers fell sick in the last four days as they had to stay on roads round the clock amid the cold weather.

Meanwhile, sources at the Khulna deputy commissioner’s office said Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has called a meeting for today at its office in the capital to discuss the workers’ demands.

Worker leaders said they were invited to the meeting by the BJMC, but they were yet to make a decision in this regard.

Hamid, convener of Sangram Parishad, said they would attend the meeting if the workers granted them permission.

Around 31,000 workers had gone on work abstention and observed fast-unto-death from December 10 to December 13.

Production at nine mills came to a halt due to the demonstration. However, Carpeting Jute Mills in Jashore was operating at partial production.

Later, workers postponed their protest until December 17 upon assurances from State Minister Monnujan of fulfilling their demands.

On December 27, the Sangram Parishad leaders announced that they would resume their movement as their demands were not met.

The demands include cancellation of public-private ownership initiative, allocation of necessary fund for the jute sector, insurance for families of deceased workers, ensuring payment of provident fund and gratuity accumulation for retired workers and regularisation of jobs of temporary workers.