GARMENT WORKERS TAKE TO STREETS

UNCLAS DHAKA 006077 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ETRD PGOV BG SUBJECT: GARMENT WORKERS TAKE TO STREETS REF: DHAKA 4412 Sensitive but unclassified. ¶1. (SBU) On September 30, media reported that garment workers from several factories ransacked police stations and damaged 50 vehicles to protest for better pay. Police responded with rubber bullets and teargas, resulting in 50 police officers injured along with several journalists. ¶2. (SBU) Labor activist Kalpona Akhter told laboff that workers from Laxma Sweater might have started the unrest. She said the labor wing of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Trade Union Center, has been trying to organize Laxma Sweater over the past few months. During the past week, Laxma management fired several workers including those attempting to organize the factory. When workers asked management to reset the work hours during Ramadan to permit workers to leave at 4 PM, management refused. Workers walked out of the factory, she said and shouted for surrounding factory workers to join them. ¶3. (SBU) According to Akhter, workers from a neighboring factory, Syntex Sweater Factory, responded. She said that several Syntex workers had been beaten the day before by a production manager and factory security forces when workers complained about not receiving their pay on time. The Syntex workers, who were working at their stations on September 30, then left the factory in support of the calls from Laxma workers, she said. ¶4. (SBU) Media reported that other factory workers from as many as five neighboring factories joined in blocking the roads from Dhaka northward. Police responded quickly and restored order within several hours. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Unresolved worker issues continue to leave the ready made garment industry vulnerable to politically motivated groups. Ahkter said that the Communist Party's Trade Union Center was also attempting to organize Universal Sweater Factory (reftel),which was widely seen as the factory that sparked the labor unrest in May. This time, effective police response quickly restored order, but the underlying causes of worker discontent remain. End comment. BUTENIS