30 hurt as management staff beat up workers
Officials of a garment factory allegedly beat up its workers following a feud over the formation of a trade union, leaving at least 30 people injured, at Madhya Badda in the capital yesterday.
Workers of Lifestyle Fashions Maker Ltd alleged that some 20 to 25 officials led by production manager Ratan clobbered them with iron rods and bamboo sticks around 11:30am.
They added that they had named some of their colleagues for different posts in a trade union three months earlier, but the authorities dropped the names, selected their favourites, and got approval for the union early this month.
The factory occupies three floors of the 12-storey Lutfon Tower.
Aleya Begum, an injured worker, told The Daily Star that the attack followed an altercation between Ratan and a sewing machine operator.
She said the operator had an altercation with his subordinates, in which Ratan tried to intervene.
But several workers asked Ratan not to interfere, saying the workers would solve their matter themselves. An aggrieved Ratan then left the place, only to return with other officials.
“With iron rods and sticks in hands, they started beating us up without instigation,” Aleya said.
About 20 of the injured were treated in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and the rest at local clinics.
Another injured worker, Shathi Akter, said they demanded formation of a trade union four months ago, and the owner initially approved that after they had submitted documents mentioning 14 as committee members.
However, the owner later cancelled the proposal and formed a committee comprised of his favourites, she added.
“We demonstrated several times to press home our demand and the owner's side carried out an attack on us during Ramadan,” she said.
On the condition of anonymity, a director of the factory told The Daily Star that the incident had taken place between two groups of workers outside the factory.
He said they had settled the matter yesterday afternoon.
Abdul Jalil, officer-in-charge of Badda police, however, said the incident resulted from a feud over the formation of a union. He said several officials were among the injured.
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