Goods Transport: One strike ends, another still on
The group of owners and workers of goods transport, who have been enforcing a 72-hour strike from Tuesday, withdrew their programme yesterday.
* 72-hr strike enforced from Sept 21 * Called off after meeting with home minister * Another faction called for 48-hr strike from Sept 27 |
"We have withdrawn our work abstention following a fruitful meeting with the home minster at the secretariat today [yesterday]," Talukder Mohammed Monir, a top leader of the platform enforcing the strike, told The Daily Star.
However, another group of owners and workers of goods transport, who had announced to enforce 48-hour strike from Monday, did not withdraw their programme till yesterday.
Bangladesh Covered-Van, Truck, Prime Mover Goods Transportation Owners Association and Bangladesh Truck Drivers Workers Federation on August 28 called the 72-hour strike to press home their 15-point demand.
Their demands include withdrawing "additional" income tax, issuing "heavy vehicle licences" to those driving heavy vehicles directly (currently, a driver has to get light vehicle licence and then licence for medium vehicles
before getting licence for heavy vehicles), and changes in the Road Transport Act-2018.
The strike halted the operation of goods transport from major sea and land ports since Tuesday morning.
Monir, president of Bangladesh Truck Drivers Workers Federation, said the home minister agreed to meet their 14 points and sought time to meet another -- regarding withdrawal of additional income tax.
A feud between two major factions of road transport owners and workers has led to calling of two separate strikes of goods-laden vehicles in the span of a week.
Although their demands are almost the same, they still called "work abstention" from different platforms just because they are locked in a long-standing conflict.
On August 25, Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van, Tank Lorry, Prime Mover Owners and Workers' Coordination Council called a 48-hour work abstention from September 27 to press home their 10-point demand.
Their demands include withdrawing murder cases against drivers under section 302 of the penal code for road accidents, solving driving licence-related complexities, withdrawing the "additional" advance income tax and allowing them to update their vehicles' documents without having to pay any fine amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Contacted, Rustam Ali Khan, convener of the platform, said the home minister will hold a meeting with them on September 26 to discuss about their demands.
"If the meeting ends successfully we will withdraw our programme, otherwise we will enforce our works abstention," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
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