The strike was called by the Prime Move Trailer Workers Union in Chittagong to protest against the failure of the region's two major transport operators, Mohammadia Enterprise and Asif International, to abide by an agreement signed in April.

Union president Selim Khan accused the two companies of failing to provide appointment letters and identity cards and failing to meet the government-mandated minimum wage requirements. He said that although the union and the company bosses signed an agreement in April to implement these demands within 45 days, they have not been implemented so far, so the union decided to go on strike and will not withdraw before having a productive discussion.

Chittagong is the largest port and the second most populous city in Bangladesh. It handles 80% of Bangladesh's international trade and 40% of its domestic economy, and plays a vital role in Bangladesh's economy.

The strike caused the import and export containers in Chittagong to be stranded, and a large number of goods could not enter and leave the port in time, which had a serious impact on the production and operation of domestic and foreign companies, especially for those companies that rely on Chittagong for import and export business. Previously, Chittagong had been continuously congested due to civil unrest and customs system failure, which seriously affected the normal operation of the port and the customs clearance of goods.

According to Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary general of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA), if the strike continues, containers will not be shipped in time and many containers will miss their designated shipping dates.

About 2,000 TEUs of export containers are shipped from warehouses to ports every day, while about 800 TEUs of import containers are shipped to warehouses, but the movement of these containers has been stopped due to the strike.

Furthermore, Bangladesh Trucking Owners Association secretary general Chaudhry Zafar Ahmed questioned the legality of the strike, claiming that there was no mention of appointment letters for goods transport drivers in the Road Transport Act, 2018 and therefore the union members were carrying out the strike illegally.

https://www.cnss.com.cn/html/gkdt/20241023/354863.html