Garment workers of Kaliakair upazila in Gazipur district on Friday blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway for five hours today demanding unpaid wages, which caused disruptions in Dhaka's road link with northern regions.
The protest began at 8:00am, with workers of Mahmud Jeans Factory blocking the Chandra area of the highway.
The situation normalised around 1:00pm after Rafi Ahmed, the factory's managing director, arrived at the scene and spoke with the workers.
The protesting workers presented a six-point demand to the factory owner. They threatened to block the highway again if their demands were not met.
"Our lives have become difficult due to non-payment of salaries for two months," said one worker.
The workers accused the owner of breaking previous promises to pay on the 14th, 18th, and 22nd of this month.
Despite advice from Gazipur Industrial Police-2's Additional Superintendent Md Imran Ahmmed to sit with the owner, workers refused to leave the highway.
"Workers need to obey existing laws," he added.
Later in the afternoon, after several rounds of talks involving the owner, army, and industrial police, the workers left the area after promises that their demands would be met. Traffic returned to normal shortly afterwards.
