Workers from five garment factories of the TNZ Group in Gazipur continued their blockade of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for a third consecutive day on Monday demanding payment of overdue wages and allowances, as well as the reopening of closed factories.

Workers have blocked one of the country’s busiest highways for over 50 hours, causing severe disruption to traffic. Communication along the route has been nearly entirely cut off, resulting in significant hardship for both passengers and drivers.

At around 11 am on Monday, workers were seen blocking the highway, with law enforcement agencies positioned nearby. The workers are protesting to demand payment of their wages for September and October.

However, there have been no reports of vandalism or other untoward incidents during the blockade so far.

Public life in Gazipur has been paralysed due to the ongoing blockade, which has lasted for two days.

Meanwhile, authorities of 30 readymade garment factories have declared a holiday in the area as of Sunday afternoon to prevent potential vandalism resulting from the labour unrest.

Labour ministry adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan on Sunday said that the government has taken initiative to resolve the crisis in TNZ group.

At a press briefing held at the labour ministry, the adviser said that they were working with the banks of the TNZ Group to secure funds to pay the workers’ dues.

According to the police and the protesting workers, the workers at five factories of TNZ Apparels Limited in the Mogarkhal area of the city werere owed approximately Tk14-15 crore for outstanding wages from the last two months (September and October).

Despite repeated assurances, the authorities have failed to pay the dues.

The workers were supposed to receive their payment on November 3, but the factory was locked, and the officials fled without settling the dues.

Every day, the workers return to the factory in hopes of resuming work, which has led to growing frustration among them. Consequently, the workers began protesting in front of the factory on Saturday morning.

Labour adviser Asif Mahmud said that the government was not using force to disperse the workers from the road. Instead, he said that the government was focused on addressing the workers’ issues and resolving the situation.

‘We are mounting pressure of factory owner and negotiating with banks to secure fund to pay the workers,’ he said.

The interim government respects the lawful demands of workers, and that, for the first time in Bangladesh’s history, the government has held factory owners accountable to address workers’ issues, the adviser said.

‘In some cases, we have even seized the passports of factory owners in order to resolve the workers’ demands,’ Asif said.

Labour secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman said that a review meeting on 18-point demand of workers was held on Sunday in an aim to address the ongoing labour issues.

Out of the 18-point demands, significant progress was made on most, with a few being fully fulfilled, he said.

Shafiquzzamansaid that wage-related issues have been resolved in most export-oriented RMG factories, with only 19 still struggling to pay the workers’ dues.