Hard rock miners give in to pangs of hunger
Hard rock mining resumed on full-scale as almost all miners of Madyapra Granite Mining Company Ltd (MGMCL) finally returned to work Saturday afternoon.
The miners went on an indefinite strike on November 27 protesting termination of their five fellows including the president and the general secretary of Miners and Workers' Union of the company and withdrawal of the case filed against them by the authorities.
MGMCL officials said 287 out of 292 miners joined their work on Saturday and 10,000 tonnes of hard rock were extracted yesterday. The company incurred a loss of Tk 1.2 crore due to the strike that continued for eight days, they added.
Mining resumed partially on December 2 as 50 of the 292 miners joined their work on the day, considering the agreement they signed with the hiring authorities at the time of appointment.
Miners have been demanding regularisation of their job with MGMCL for long. Against this backdrop, they protested appointments of nine officials and held demonstration when the officials went to the site for joining on November 23. The miners also assaulted the newly appointed officials.
After the incident, the MGMCL authorities terminated five union leaders and filed a case against them with Parbatipur Police Station.
The sacked miners are Md Mominul Haque Momin, president of MGMCL Miners and Workers Union, Md Mostafizur Rahman, general secretary of the union, Md Mehedi Hasan, organising secretary, and union leaders Sadequl islam and Shafiqul Islam Jaman,
Company officials said 292 miners and workers were appointed by Blue Star Service on condition of 'no work no pay'. So, the strike enforced by them was illegal.
The miners said, "We have joined our work, considering the financial loss we suffered in the last eight days."
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