Garment Workers Block Kakrail Road After March to Jamuna Halted

Garment workers blocked the road in front of Kakrail Mosque this afternoon after police stopped them from marching toward the chief adviser’s residence at the state guest house Jamuna.

According to Golam Faruk, officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station, the workers were protesting to press for their unpaid wages.

Witnesses said several hundred workers from eight factories under the TNZ Group had been demonstrating at Shrom Bhaban, which houses key labour-related government offices, including the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, the Department of Labour, and the Labour Welfare Foundation.

The protesters reportedly barred officials from entering the building as they demanded overdue salaries and other benefits. Around 2:30pm, they began marching toward Jamuna from Shrom Bhaban, but police intercepted them near Kakrail Mosque with a barricade of barbed wire.

In response, the workers sat on the road and began chanting slogans.

One protester told reporters, “We have been demonstrating in front of Shrom Bhaban for about nine days, demanding our wages and benefits, but no one has come to speak with us. We are not asking for charity—we want what we’ve earned.”

Shah Poran, a worker owed three months’ salary, said the factory management had promised to pay by May 7 but failed to deliver. “No one paid heed to our protests. We had no choice but to head toward Jamuna. We won’t leave until our salaries are paid,” he said.

Additional police personnel were deployed in the area to maintain order.