Labour Dispute Halts Bus and Truck Services in Chapainawabganj

Bus, truck, tanker lorry and covered van services across Chapainawabganj were suspended on Thursday morning after members of a transport workers’ organisation began an indefinite work stoppage, leaving passengers stranded and disrupting the movement of goods.

The disruption began on 20 August amid a long-running dispute between the Chapainawabganj District Motor Workers’ Union and the District Truck, Tanker Lorry and Covered Van Workers’ Union over the collection of money from buses in the name of workers’ welfare.

The dispute intensified on Tuesday after workers affiliated with the Motor Workers’ Union allegedly assaulted a bus worker. Bus services were subsequently suspended for around an hour that night. Services resumed after union leaders assured workers that the matter would be addressed.

A meeting involving representatives of the two workers’ organisations was held on Wednesday night under police supervision in an attempt to resolve the dispute. The discussions, however, failed to produce an agreement. With both sides maintaining their positions, members of the Truck, Tanker Lorry and Covered Van Workers’ Union began a work stoppage on Thursday morning.

As a result, bus and goods-vehicle services on routes across the district were disrupted. The stoppage has affected both local and long-distance services, while vehicles parked along the Chapainawabganj-Rajshahi road have also contributed to traffic congestion in several areas.

The disruption has caused particular difficulties for passengers who rely on public transport to travel between Chapainawabganj and neighbouring districts. Goods transport has also been affected as trucks and other commercial vehicles remain off the roads.

Passenger Zahid Hasan said he had left home intending to travel to Rajshahi but discovered after reaching the transport point that bus services had been suspended. He also alleged that some CNG-powered vehicles were charging higher fares after the bus shutdown.

“We are suffering because of a dispute between the workers’ organisations,” he said.

Saidur Rahman, president of the District Truck, Tanker Lorry and Covered Van Workers’ Union, alleged that the Motor Workers’ Union had been stopping buses on the roads and collecting money illegally for a long time. He said the work stoppage was launched in protest against what his organisation described as unauthorised collections.

The Motor Workers’ Union rejected the allegation. Its general secretary, Abdur Rauf Julmat, said his organisation collected money from buses in accordance with the rules. He instead accused members of the Truck, Tanker Lorry and Covered Van Workers’ Union of collecting money not only from trucks, tanker lorries and covered vans but also from buses, despite allegedly having no authority to do so.

The conflicting claims have placed the two organisations at the centre of a dispute over which union has the right to collect welfare-related contributions from different categories of vehicles. The failure of the latest negotiations has now translated into a wider disruption of public and commercial transport.

Additional Superintendent of Police in Chapainawabganj ANM Wasim Firoz said police had brought representatives of both organisations together to seek a settlement, but no agreement could be reached because neither side was willing to change its position.

Police are continuing efforts to resolve the dispute and restore normal transport services, he said. Both organisations have also been told that there is no scope for any form of extortion or unauthorised collection on the roads.

Until the dispute is resolved, the suspension of transport services remains a significant source of inconvenience for passengers and businesses dependent on road transport. The situation also highlights the need for any dispute over workers’ welfare contributions to be settled through lawful and agreed mechanisms rather than through disruptions to public transport.