Jute Mill Workers: Agitation on in Khulna, Jashore
Workers of state-run jute mills will block roads in the capital today to press home their demands for arrears and fair wages.
The demonstrators will block roads in Demra from 6:00am-4:00pm, said Asraf Uddin, a permanent worker of Karim Jute Mills in the area.
“We are starving with our children,” he told The Daily Star, adding that the workers had not taken to the streets on Friday.
Meanwhile, workers of nine state-run jute mills in Khulna and Jashore blocked Dhaka-Khulna highway and rail lines for three hours yesterday afternoon and announced that they would continue their programmes today.
Over 35,000 workers of nine state-owned jute mills demonstrated near Notun Rasta intersection, Kobir Bottola, Daulatpur, and Atra Industrial area in Khulna.
Around 4:00pm they set tyres on fire and left them on roads in Notun Rasta, Kobir Bottola areas, reports our Khulna correspondent.
In Jashore, workers from Jashore Jute Industry and Carpeting Jute Mills Ltd completely blocked highways in Rajghat area.
People had to walk along the Khulna-Jashore highway under the scorching sun.
Sahajahan Khandoker, a private service holder, told The Daily Star that he had to walk over two kilometres along the Dhaka-Khulna highway near Daulatpur area in the afternoon.
No train or bus could enter or leave the city during the time.
The BJMC has been losing about Tk 4 crore every day due to the work-stoppage of the mill workers, according to BJMC officials.
There are 14,525 permanent and 18,552 temporary workers in 26 BJMC jute mills across the country. However, worker leaders say that the number is almost 80,000.
Since March 29, workers of all the 26 mills of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation have been demonstrating to press home their nine-point demands, including implementation of the National Wage Scale-2015 and payment of arrears and gratuities.
Other demands include addressing the insurance claims of retired and deceased workers and reinstating those who lost jobs during previous demonstrations.
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