Staff Reporter :
Police have deployed water cannons and sound grenades on members of the Bangladesh Outsourcing Employees’ Welfare Association, who were staging a protest on the road in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital, demanding permanent employment.
Sardar Bulbul Ahmed, an inspector of Shahbagh police station, said they repeatedly requested the protesters to leave the road.
Earlier the protesters started the blockade at 3 pm on Saturday (February 22). As a result, traffic jams were created in the Secretariat and surrounding areas.
The law enforcers used water cannons and sound grenade to disperse the protesters.
The protesters made a one-point demand to regularize their jobs.
They are working in outsourcing projects in all government and autonomous offices.
The protesters said, “They will continue their movement until their demand is met”. Outsourcing workers from different parts of the country joined the movement.
Md Shahabuddin, an assistant programmer at the Election Commission Secretariat and one of the demonstrators, told bdnews24.com: “We will continue our protest until our one-point demand for job regularisation is met.”
He added, “A few student coordinators have spoken to us. But we will not be swayed by mere assurances. We will stay on the streets until our demand is fulfilled.”
Since the fall of the Awami League government through mass protests, members of the outsourcing employees’ council have been pressing for the nationalisation of their jobs.
Previously, they staged blockades at the Press Club, Shahbagh, and other locations to highlight their demands.
