Garment workers protest layoffs in city

Around 3,000 workers of a unit of Padma Garment staged a demonstration in front of the factory at Tejgaon Industrial Area yesterday in protest of layoffs.
The police said the management of Padma Poly Cotton Knit Fabrics Ltd. posted a notice on the factory gate yesterday morning announcing its closure.
Enraged by the notice, the workers who came to their workplace in the morning gathered together to stage a demonstration, but a large contingent of police, deployed there since early morning, dispersed them.
Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Industrial Police Station, said the factory owner announced layoffs as the workers had remained absent for the last three days following a clash between the garment workers and other staffs of the factory.
He also said the garments workers also beat the factory staffers, prompting them to lodge a case with the police station.
Abdul Kader, a worker, said the situation has been tense since Thursday when a workers' leader Azad, who is close to the management, had scuffled with the workers over tiffin.
The scuffle erupted as Azad and his associates were trying to force the workers to have 'low quality' tiffin being served by the management, he added.
Since then, the workers were demanding removal of Azad from the factory, Kader said.
As the workers remained absent from their work on some floors on Monday to press their demand, officials and staffers close to the management beat up at least three workers, Liton, Saiful and Shahinoor, prompting the workers on all floors to join the agitation programme.