Beximco Industrial Park workers block the highway again despite the government granting a loan of Tk60cr to the company to pay their wage arrears

Hamim Group workers also blocked another stretch of the Chandra-Nabinagar highway after rumors spread that one of the three workers injured while crossing the road this morning had died

TBS report

November 20, 2024, 2:15 p.m

Last modified: November 20, 2024, 14:23

The photo shows Beximco Industrial Park workers protesting on a road near the Chandra-Nabinagar highway in Sarabo area of ​​Gazipur on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. Photo: TBS

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The photo shows Beximco Industrial Park workers protesting on a road near the Chandra-Nabinagar highway in Sarabo area of ​​Gazipur on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. Photo: TBS

Despite the government yesterday extending a loan of Rs 60 crore to Beximco Group to clear salary arrears, Beximco Industrial Park workers blocked the Chandra-Nabinagar highway again this morning (November 20).

This is the sixth day since last Thursday (November 14) that they have been blocking the highway, demanding payment of October salaries.

Before Beximco workers began the blockade, workers at the Hamim Group factory blocked the Jirani point on the same highway as rumors spread that one of the three workers who was reportedly injured while crossing the road this morning had died.

Hamim Group employees lifted the blockade around 11:30 a.m. when army representatives arrived on site.

However, two roadblocks on the same road have completely stopped vehicular movement on the highway, causing major inconvenience to commuters.

Vehicles bound for northern Bangladesh maintain road connectivity to Dhaka using alternative routes through Gazipur on the Dhaka-Tangail highway and Dhamrai-Kaliakoir regional road.

“Vehicle traffic has been completely suspended since the morning due to the workers’ blockade. We’re trying to get employees to get out of the way. Once the workers leave the road, traffic will resume,” said Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Kashimpur police station.

Last Thursday, Beximco Industrial Park workers blocked the road, demanding unpaid wages for October. After a break on Friday (November 15), the blockade was resumed on Saturday (November 16) at 8:30.

Although they cleared the road during the night, they resumed the blockade the next day (November 17).

Despite yesterday’s (November 19) all-day protest, the workers received no response. Last night around 10 p.m., the workers lifted the blockade and returned home.

The factories at the Beximco industrial park in Gazipur’s Sarabo are owned by Salman F. Rahman, an industrial adviser to deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sources say that since Salman’s arrest, the company has not been able to pay employees’ salaries on time.

Every month, workers have to protest to get paid.

Rumors of the death of an employee led to the blockade of the Hamim Group

Workers at the Hamim Group factory began protesting when three female workers were hit by an unidentified vehicle around 6 a.m. and injured.

Later, a rumor spread that one of the workers had died, which made the workers anxious and they blocked the Jirani section of the Chandra-Nabinagar highway from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The workers said they blocked the road, demanding the construction of a flyover and fixing management problems at the factory.

After receiving the news, military personnel and industrial police arrived at the site at around 11:30 a.m. and convinced the workers to clear the road.

Doreen’s employees did not protest today

On November 1, the authorities announced the indefinite closure of three Doreen Group factories in Gazipur’s Panishail area, without prior notice.

On Monday, workers at three factories began protests, demanding the factories be reopened.

After two days of protests, management yesterday promised to reopen factories by Thursday (November 21), to which workers agreed.

That’s why Doreen’s employees did not join today’s protest.