Six months after the government announced the new minimum wage for tannery workers, the workers have launched a strong movement as it has not been implemented.
The workers are observing a two-hour work stoppage in every factory located in the Hemayetpur Leather Industry City of Savar since Tuesday to protest the delay of tannery owners for months.
The work stoppage will continue until Thursday. Even then, the workers have warned of a stricter programme from next Saturday. These programmes were announced at a workers' rally organized by the Tannery Workers Union in the Leather Industry City on Monday.
The workers' rally, held under the chairmanship of Tannery Workers Union President Abul Kalam Azad, was attended by the organization's General Secretary Abdul Malek, other top leaders of the Tannery Workers Association, and more than a thousand tannery workers.
In his speech as the president of the workers' rally, Abul Kalam Azad said that tannery owners have been committing various irregularities for a long time. Due to their irregularities, European buyers are not willing to buy leather from Bangladesh. And using this excuse, tannery owners are delaying the implementation of the new wage structure.
