Ten platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were deployed in Gazipur this morning to contain ongoing labour unrest over garment workers’ demands for higher wages and other benefits.
Led by 21 executive magistrates, BGB personnel have taken positions at different locations to maintain law and order.
Mohammad Arif Hossain, assistant commissioner and executive magistrate at the deputy commissioner's office, confirmed the deployment to the media at 8:00am.
Protests by garment workers demanding higher wages sparked clashes, arson, and highway blockades in Dhaka and its outskirts, as well as in Gazipur yesterday, the day the government formed a new wage board.
By evening, at least 529 garment factories in Mirpur, Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, and Mymensingh declared a holiday yesterday, according to a situation report shared by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The workers have been demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000, an end to blacklisting, and reinstatement of dismissed employees.
FP/A
