RMG workers block Ctg road demanding dues

Workers of three readymade garment factories blocked Bayezid Bostami Road in Chittagong city for two hours yesterday demanding their annual earned leave allowance of 20 days.

As a result, a four-kilometre tailback was created from Bayezid Bostmi intersection to Oxygen intersection, hampering vehicular movement, which caused sufferings to commuters, said witnesses.

Around 10,000 workers of Clifton Apparels, Clifton Deluxe Fashion, and Clifton Textile and Apparels took to the street around 6:00pm demanding that the authorities pay them before Eid-ul-Azha.

The workers, however, did not go for vandalism, said Sub-Inspector Shamim Sheikh of Bayezid Police Station.

Mobarak Hossain, a worker of Clifton Deluxe Fashion, said as per rule, a worker gets a one-day leave after every 18 days.

If they work throughout the period, they will get an allowance for one day, he said, adding, “We demand the dues of 2013.”

Visiting the spot, Moin Uddin, one of the directors of Clifton Group, assured them of repaying the dues before the Eid.

Following the assurance, the workers withdrew the blockade around 7:30pm.

Maniruzzaman Masum, president of workers' trade union of Clifton Textile and Apparels, claimed earlier they informed Industrial Police and BGMEA about the dues but they did not take any step.

Contacted, Inspector Mamtaz Uddin of Industrial Police, Chittagong, said he was not sure whether the workers informed them of the matter.

They were trying to convince the workers and owners to reach a negotiation, he said.

Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, first vice president of BGMEA, said, “I have talked to the owners and they said they would pay the allowance immediately.”