Jute mill workers in Bangladesh stage indefinite strike

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Thousands of jute mill workers in Bangladesh launched an indefinite strike Monday, demanding better wages and arrears.

Workers at mainly state-owned mills blocked roads and railways across the country, including in the capital Dhaka, creating a nightmare for commuters.

Md Murad Hossain, convener of the Jute Mill Workers League in the Khulna-Jashore region, said in a press release that workers are set to block roads and railways from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day.

Workers have not been paid for 11 weeks while officials and other employees of the mills have not received their salaries for two to four months, he said.

State Minister of Labor Monnujan Sufian, however, told reporters in Dhaka that the government is taking initiatives to pay workers’ arrears by next week.

The Ministry of Labor had earlier assured workers that all arrears would be cleared by April 25, a promise that protesters say has not been kept.

“I have been suffering from deprivation and poverty for over three months now. I am tired of hearing BJMC’s false promises. I don’t trust a word they say,” Putul Khatun, 58, a worker at Crescent Jute Mills and a key organizer of the demonstrations in Khulna, told the The Daily Star, referring to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation.

Some 60,000 workers, including those at 22 state-owned jute mills, have been protesting intermittently since March this year.

Their demands include a commission to form a wage structure; immediate payment of arrears, gratuities and provident fund; making their jobs permanent and reinstating those who lost their jobs for attending protests.

Bangladesh is among the leading jute-producing nations of the world. The industry fetches it millions of dollars in revenue every year.