Drivers and workers have locked the gates to the BTRC Joar Sahara Bus Depot in Dhaka to demand nine months of back pay.
Depot Manager Md Noor Alam said all operations at the depot have been halted since Tuesday morning due to the strike.
“They have some demands. They have been protesting since morning and so no buses have been able to leave.”
This strike has halted government-provided public bus service on the Abdullahpur-Motijheel, Gabtali-Gazipur, Kuril Biswa Road-Pachdona routes and staff buses for various government institutions.
One of the protesters said that though the government had made assurances, they have yet to receive their back pay.
“We are owed nine months of back pay. It is hard to live like this. We hear from our landlords every day. We cannot pay our children’s school fees. It cannot go on.”
The BRTC Joar Sahara Bus Depot operates 120 buses including double-deckers and air-conditioned buses. The workers are paid from the fares charged on these buses.
But losses in recent years have meant that the nearly 500 workers employed at the depot face regular delays to their salary, bdnews24.com reported.
The bus drivers at the depot had launched a protest in July of last year. They were owed ten months of back pay at the time.
The BRTC has 22 depots across the country, six of which are in Dhaka. About 3,000 drivers, technicians, office assistants and security guards work at these depots. They receive third- and fourth-class pay according to the public sector wage scale.
The protesters say that workers at other depots in Dhaka are also owed significant amounts of back pay.
