Bangladesh: Thousands of workers block highway amid factory closure, non-payment of dues

Dhaka: Thousands of workers staged demonstrations and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Saturday, demanding factory reopening, annual leave, due holiday payment, and bonuses.

They blocked the highway for two hours, halting the movement of traffic and causing severe issues to the locals.

The workers of the Giant Knit garment factory in the Gazipur district of Dhaka division started the protest after seeing a factory closure notice in the morning.

Gazipur Industrial Police Sub-Inspector (SI) Faruk Hossain said that workers had already protested on Thursday over leave and bonus payments.

In response, the factory authorities issued a closure notice, the leading Bangladeshi daily, The Dhaka Tribune reported.

Despite multiple attempts to negotiate with the authorities regarding leave and bonuses, they found no resolution.

“We are struggling to survive with our families. Eid is approaching, yet we have no guarantee of our holiday payments and bonuses. The factory must reopen, and our dues must be paid immediately,” a protesting worker told The Daily Star.

Earlier this week, hundreds of workers blocked both the Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways at the Bhogra Bypass intersection in Gazipur over the issue of unpaid salaries.

The protests led to severe traffic snarls in the already-congested zone.The protestors alleged that over 300 workers have not received their salaries with the authorities delaying their pay without giving any valid reason.

Last week, workers of at least 15 garment factories in Gazipur’s Kaliakoir staged protests, blocking the Dhaka-Tangail highway over the closure of a factory and an alleged assault on workers, local media reported.

Bangladesh has the third highest percentage of low-paid workers among South Asian nations after Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) released in November 2024.

Economists say this widening disparity has forced low-income and unskilled workers to reduce food consumption due to declining real incomes.

A policy brief from New York-based Cornell University in 2025 suggests that Bangladesh should annually review its wage-setting process as apparel workers in the country who are paid a minimum wage are losing income year-on-year due to current inflation rates, reported the country’s leading daily, The Financial Express.

Protests and strikes by workers over non-payment of dues and deteriorating working conditions have gripped the entire country since the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus came to power in August 2024.

Several reports have revealed that the continuous protests by the workers have led to the closure of many factories while many workers have also lost their lives or got seriously injured during protest marches.

–IANS