Bangladesh: garment workers attack factories

In the Dhaka area, thousands of garment workers came out on strike over the weekend (9-10th Aug) in a new outbreak of unrest.

Two workers were assaulted overnight by security forces, after 400 mainly women workers had recently been sacked, with no warning and without receiving wages owed. Workers then attacked the security forces camp with sticks, stones and bricks. The response was rifle fire into the crowd. Workers spent the next four hours vandalisng the factory until a huge contingent of police and soldiers arrived.

On Sunday morning, 300 workers of Polonia Garments Ltd gathered in expectation of payment of owed wages. Finding the factory gates locked, thousands of furious workers from neighbouring factories began ransacking that factory and others on the Dhaka-Tangail highway. Highway traffic was blocked. 15 RMG factories and four shopping centres were also attacked as rioting continued through the day. Strikes occurred in at least three other factories. 60 factories were closed in response to the violence. Later, roving workers set fire to an RMG factory in Gazipur.

libcom.org