Workers of Bata shoe demand regularisation of jobs

They became agitated after they heard that authorities of National Fan (NF) have agreed to meet most of the demands placed by its workers and staged demonstration inside the factory. They have been observing work abstention for the last few days demanding higher wage and regularization of job.

Bata authorities, however, denied that they are their employees. "We hire some people to do some of our jobs, but they are not our employees," said a Bata official.

Earlier, the meeting held between the workers and owners of NF at noon ended peacefully as owners have agreed to meet most of the demands of the workers. Owner Shafique Ahmed, Manager Toufique Ahmed, Chief Engineer Shofiuddin represented owners while Ghiasuddin, commissioner of Tongi Pouro Ward, and 11 representatives from the workers were present at the meeting. The NF workers 11-point-demand include regularization of job of those who have been working for four years and salary hike by Tk 300.