Cops foil garment workers’ demo in Savar

Police dispelled a demonstration of garments workers over the new wage structure in Dhaka’s outskirts Savar this morning.

Over a hundred workers of two factories of Standard Group were agitating in Hemayetpur Tannery Road, our local correspondent reports.

Industrial police dispelled the agitation around 9:00pm.

Workers told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity that they had urged the owners to eliminate the discriminations in the new wage board.

“But instead, they unleashed police on us yesterday. We were beaten. So today, we are agitating,” several agitating workers said.

Sana Shaminur Rahman, superintendent of Dhaka zone Industrial Police, told The Daily Star that the workers were agitating on “illogical demand” and were removed by police.

He said, the two factories did not shut down due to agitation.

He also said, one other apparel unit in Ashulia remained shut today. But, he did not say whether it was due to any unrest there.

WHAT IS THE NEW WAGE?

The new wage board for Bangladesh’s apparel industry rolled into effect from December 2018 with Tk 8,000 as the minimum wage.

It came in purview of workers demanding Tk 16,000 minimum wage and was not well taken due to what the workers said “discriminatory factors”.

However, the paycheck under the new wage board has not been handed out yet and is scheduled to be delivered by January 7 or 8.

Previously, the minimum wage was Tk 5, 300.