Workers staged demonstrations in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur following allegations that a female employee died after being denied leave despite falling seriously ill at work.
The protests began on Wednesday morning at the Color & Co Ltd factory in the Tepirbari area and later spread to nearby roads, disrupting traffic in the locality.
The deceased, Liza, 37, hailed from Nazirpur upazila of Pirojpur district and worked as a sewing operator at the factory.
According to her co-workers, Liza had been suffering from illness for a long time and returned to work on Tuesday morning. They alleged that her physical condition deteriorated during working hours and that she repeatedly sought leave from the factory authorities.
However, workers claimed that the management did not grant her leave and compelled her to continue working.
Police rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control after talking to the demonstrators.
Md Shahinur Alam, Officer-in-Charge(OC) of Sreepur Police Station, said workers from several factories gathered after learning of the death and staged protests and vandalised property.
The OC added that a meeting involving factory authorities and workers has been scheduled for Saturday to discuss the issue. Additional police have been deployed around the factories to prevent any untoward incidents.