Coal mine workers of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL) in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur are continuing their indefinite strike demanding regularisation of their jobs. Forty of the workers, who had been demonstrating inside the mine, had fallen sick. Eight of them have been rushed to Phulbari Upazila Health Complex, said Rabiul Islam, president of BCMCL Miners’ Union. They are -- Abdul Kader, 35, Amzad Hossain, 38, Abdur Razzak, 40, Tahsin Ali, 30, Mosarraf Hossain, 38, Saidar Rahman, 35, Ferdous Ali, 28 and Mamunur Rashid 37.
Production at Bangladesh’s only coalfield had been halted after workers started their agitation on Sunday. The demonstrators said they would not return to work until their demand was met. They claimed 1,040 workers had been working at the mine for a daily wage of Tk300. The amount is insufficient to run their families and meager compared to the risks they have to take. Workers at the mine had been demonstrating since 2011 to press for regularisation of jobs.
They went on a strike on December 14 last year and postponed their demonstration after the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd authorities promised to accept their demands by January 7.
However, as there was no word on job regularisation, the workers started a sit-in on Sunday and went on indefinite strike from the next day.