Jute workers’ demo continues in Khulna; highway blocked

Workers of the nine state-owned jute mills in Khulna have been staging a day-long demonstration to press home their 11-point demand, including payment of pending salary and implementation of a wage commission.

Around 9:00am today, thousands of workers brought out a procession, that paraded different roads of the city, reports our Khulna correspondent.

They also put barricade at five points including Natun Rasta Intersection, BIDC Road, and BL College road, disrupting traffic movement on the Khulna-Jashore highway for one and a half hours till 11:30am.

Today’s demonstration was the part of their seven-day agitation programme announced on November 23 under the banner of “State-owned Jute Mill Collective Bargaining Association (CBA) and Non-CBA Sangram Parishad”.

Their 11-point demands include cancellation of public-private ownership, provident fund and gratuity for retired workers, regularising weekly wages and implementation of the wage commission, payment of outstanding bills etc. They also demanded that the government buy jute products for other sectors.