Savar’s Clashes Leave 50 Injured, Including Journalist and Police; Garment Workers’ New Minimum Wage to Be Finalised by December
Savar’s Hemayetpur and Ullail areas turned into battlegrounds on Wednesday as garment workers staged protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 and other benefits. Clashes broke out between workers and police, with repeated chases and counter-chases and brick-throwing. Protesters also set fire to the vehicle of the officer-in-charge (OC) of Savar Model Police Station.
Police fired tear gas shells, sound grenades and rubber bullets to bring the situation under control. At least 50 people, including the OC, police personnel, workers, a journalist and pedestrians, were injured. Workers blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway, disrupting traffic in both directions. Several nearby garment factories later declared a general holiday.
The clashes began around 8:15am in front of Standard Group near Padmar Mor in Hemayetpur and around 9am in front of Al-Muslim Group in Ullail.
According to local sources, workers gathered at Padmar Mor in the morning to demand a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000. When they took positions on the road, police tried to disperse them. The situation escalated after workers threw bricks and stones at police. Police then fired tear gas shells, sound grenades and rubber bullets. At one point, protesters set fire to a police vehicle. OC Saiful Alam and at least 49 others were injured in the clashes.
After 9am, workers split into several groups and took positions at Padmar Mor, Hemayetpur bus stand and nearby areas. At around 9:10am, they blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway, halting traffic in both directions. Long queues of vehicles formed on the highway, causing serious inconvenience to passengers and commuters.
In Ullail, workers also blocked the road in front of Al-Muslim Group. Police tried to clear the road, triggering another clash. Police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets in response to brick-throwing by workers.
Several garment factories in Hemayetpur, Ullail and nearby areas declared a general holiday amid the unrest. Although some workers returned home after the factories closed, tension persisted in several areas. Law enforcement agencies remained on alert, and three platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were deployed in the industrial area.
Dhaka District Police Superintendent Shamima Parveen said 30,000 to 40,000 workers had gathered at Padmar Mor from two directions in the morning and became aggressive towards police. Police tried to resist them, but protesters set fire to the vehicle of the Savar Model Police Station OC. Mr. Saiful Alam was seriously injured in the attack, she said.
Lieutenant Colonel Taimun, commander of the BGB Dhaka Battalion deployed in Savar, said around three platoons of BGB personnel had been deployed at different locations across the industrial area. BGB members were also performing duties in Ashulia and Savar. Action was being taken against those creating disorder and causing public suffering, he added.
The Savar Upazila Nirbahi Officer said workers had taken to the streets and the administration was taking necessary steps to restore normalcy.
Meanwhile, the government has agreed to finalise a new minimum wage for garment workers by December. Workers will receive the increased wages in January along with their December salaries. Representatives of both employers and workers reached an agreement on the timeline.
The decision was announced at a press briefing following the first meeting of the newly formed minimum wage board in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, on Wednesday. The meeting began at 11am and was chaired by board chairman and Senior District Judge Sheikh Ashfakur Rahman.
The meeting discussed the process of setting a new minimum wage for workers and employees in the garment sector. Both employer and worker representatives agreed to finalise the wage by December and implement it from January.
On November 1, the government reconstituted the minimum wage board and formed a separate wage board for the garment sector amid workers’ protests demanding higher wages.
At around 11am on Wednesday, law enforcement personnel moved workers off the highway in Hemayetpur, restoring traffic. However, tension continued in Ullail and around Padmar Mor.
