Cops foil left bodies’ bid to lay siege to ministry
Cops foil left bodies’ bid to lay siege to ministry
Tuba Group workers continue demo for 8th day
Failing to lay siege to labour ministry in face of police resistance, leaders and activists of Gonotantrik Bam Morcha staged a sit-in near secretariat in the capital for half an hour today.
The leaders and activists of Bam Morcha, an alliance of several leftist parties, ended their programme around 12:30pm through a brief rally.
Earlier in the day, several hundreds of the alliance gathered in front of Jatiya Press Club around 11:15am and held a rally demanding immediate payment of the due salaries and Eid bonus to the garment workers of Tuba Group.
After the rally, the activists started towards the secretariat in procession in a bid to lay siege to the ministry as part of their prescheduled programme.
As they reached near the barricades set up by police before the gate No-5 of the secretariat, the law enforcers resisted them, triggering the sit-in programme.
The alliance announced the programme yesterday expressing solidarity with the 1,600 RMG workers of Tuba Group who are continuing their hunger strike for the eighth consecutive day today to realise their five-point demand including payment of their three months’ salaries and festival bonus.
Garment makers platform BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association) yesterday agreed to pay two months' salaries to the 1,600 workers of Tuba Group, but the workers rejected the offer.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu and labour union leaders.
Tuba Group will pay Eid bonuses and the salary of the rest one month later, SM Mannan Kochi, acting BGMEA president, said yesterday.
However, the agitating workers rejected the BGMEA's offer and vowed to continue their demonstration today.
On July 28, workers of five factories owned by Tuba went on a hunger strike for the due payments of more than Tk 4.14 crore.
With 17 workers already hospitalised, physicians at the spot said the workers needed to break their hunger strike immediately.