Workers demand a pay raise; highway blocked for three hours

Traffic on the Dhaka-Tangail highway was halted for nearly three hours in the Mouchak area of Kaliakair, Gazipur, due to a protest by workers demanding an increase in their wages and allowances. The blockade was lifted at 1:50 PM on Tuesday (October 27), allowing traffic to gradually return to normal.

According to police and worker sources, employees of 'Essential Clothing Limited' began their protest in front of their factory earlier in the day. They later marched to the Kaliakair-Fulbaria road and staged a sit-in.

There was one point, during the protest, where the workers pressured nearby factories to declare a holiday. Bricks and stones were thrown at the gates of several factories. To manage the situation, the authorities of many factories in the area decided to declare a holiday.

Subsequently, the workers moved to the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Mouchak area and set up a blockade, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. They cleared the road after about three hours.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kaliakair Police Station, Shahidul Islam, confirmed that the workers have left the road and that traffic flow is gradually returning to normal.

-    RS/NS