Labour protests in Savar, Ashulia, Dhaka

Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
The country’s garments workers staged demonstrated over “disparity” in their new wage structure, for the fifth day on the trot.
In Ashulia, workers from factories in Katgora, Puturia, Ramgora and Berun areas began protests around 8:00am, reports The Daily Star.
Thousands of garments workers took to the streets in Ashulia, setting afire objects in a bid to block the roads. About 50 factories were found shut in the area.
Afterwards, police allegedly hurled tear gas canisters and baton charged at the agitating workers as they tried to block Baipail, injuring 20 people.
Border Guard Bangladesh, who was deployed since Wednesday, were seen in large numbers, keeping a vigil watch at different points.
Agitation has also been reported from Katgora area around 10:30am, where police threw tear gas canisters on workers who tried to block a road. 10 persons were injured.
Law enforcers were trying to urge the workers to go back to work, Assistant Superintendent of Dhaka Industrial Police, Shaminur Rahman told The Daily Star.
Workers of two factories of Standard Group also went home instead of joining work today.
Managing director of Standard Group, Mosharraf Hossain, said the factory accepted all demands of the workers, who would join work tomorrow.
In Mirpur’s Shewrapara area, workers had gathered since this morning to continue their protest. About a thousand were demonstrating there.
The workers have alleged that the monthly wage in the seventh grade increased to Tk 8,000 from Tk 5,300 as per the latest gazette published by the government last year. But, the salary of the workers in other grades did not increase at the same rate.
The salary hike for the entry-level workers was more than that of their senior operators, who have been working for more than seven to eight years. The new wage has been effective from December 1. Major disparity in the salary hike was noticed in the third and fourth grades as their salaries were not raised like that of entry-level workers.
In most of the grades, other than the seventh, only Tk 500 was raised in the new salary structure, whereas an entry-level worker’s salary had increased by Tk 2,700 at one go.