Traffic on Savar's Nabinagar-Chandra highway has been at a complete standstill for nearly 24 hours, with thousands of vehicles stuck and roads congested.
The prolonged blockage has caused significant suffering to the general public and workers from various factories in the area.
The disruption was caused by workers from the Birds Group, who have blocked the highway in protest, demanding unpaid wages and service benefits.
The protest began on Monday around 9:00am, with workers taking to the streets, and by Tuesday (October 1), they were still occupying the highway. By 8:00am on Tuesday, large groups of male and female workers were seen sitting on both sides of the road in the Baipail Thana Road area.
Despite the extended blockade, no resolution or assurance from authorities has been made to meet their demands.
The workers’ protest stems from an August 27 notice by the Birds Group announcing a lay-off, effective August 28.
The notice cited the Russia-Ukraine war and the global economic downturn as reasons for halting operations in the group’s factories, including RNR Fashions Limited, Birds Garments Limited, Birds Fedrex Limited, and Birds & Z Limited. The company claimed to have been running at a loss and struggling to secure new work orders.
While the workers received their August salaries on September 10, as promised, the company requested an additional three months to pay out the service benefits and compensation due on September 30. This delay sparked the current protest and road blockade.
According to Industrial Police, seven factories in the industrial area have been shut down under Section 13(1), and seven more are on general holiday due to internal issues.
Efforts to contact Sarwar Alam, Superintendent of Police for Industrial Police-1, for comment were unsuccessful.