Dhaka: The workers of seven state-owned jute mills in Khulna and Jessore regions on Wednesday withdrew their indefinite strike that began 10 days ago over realising their arrears, reports UNB.

Mohammad Sohrab Hossain, Convener of the CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad of the seven jute mills, announced the withdrawal of strike after a meeting with the minister and the state minister for textile and jute at the Secretariat in the capital.

‘As the Prime Minister has allocated Tk 1,000 crore (for clearing some of their arrears) and the minister and the state minister assured us of clearing all the arrears, we call off the strike right now,’ Sohrab told reporters.

Noting that their demand was to realise their all the arrears, he hoped that they would get their dues by April 25 following the assurances made by the minister and state minister. ‘However, it’ll take a few days more to get the arrears as the Finance Ministry needs time to release the fund,’ Sohrab said.

Leaders of the CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad sat at the meeting with Minister M Emajuddin Pramanik and state minister Mirza Azam in the afternoon.

After the meeting, the state minister also said the workers have withdrawn the strike. ‘The workers of the jute mills will get all the due wages and allowances all together by April 25,’ he said.

He said the ministry is going to take specific steps for the next five years with a view to reducing the amount of losses incurred by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BGMC).

The CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad of the seven jute mills—

Crescent Jute Mills, Platinum Jute Mills, Khalispur Jute Mills, Star Jute Mills, Eastern Jute Mills, Jessore Jute Mills and Carpeting Jute Mills—enforced the strike on April 4.

The government on Monday made an allocation of Tk 1,000 crore for clearing some arrears of the workers. And the Jute and Textile Minister on Tuesday urged to call off the strike during a meeting with leaders of the CBAs of the state-owned jute mills.

But the jute mill workers continued their strike till Wednesday afternoon.

The demands of the workers include adequate allocations for the jute industry, payment of their arrears, formation of a wage board and stopping the move to privatise the state-owned jute mills.