Striking employees at Chattogram Port have temporarily ended a six-day work stoppage that had completely shut down port operations through Thursday.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon at the port, leaders of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad said the strike would be suspended for two days following a meeting between the dockworker labor group’s representatives and Bangladesh‘s Shipping Adviser M. Sakhawat Hussain.
The workers had walked off the job due to the Bangladesh interim government’s decision to lease the port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to Dubai-based DP World. The attempt to lease at least three of the country’s largest port terminals to foreign operators has been unpopular among the port’s workers and business lobbying groups due to concerns about service cost increases and potential international influence on Bangladesh’s port systems.
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The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) and DP World are currently negotiating a 15-year contract to put the gateway under the terminal operator giant’s control.
On Tuesday, the action committee had threatened to continue the work stoppage indefinitely until the government stepped in to cancel the talks.
“The holy month of Ramadan is approaching. Out of respect for Ramadan and based on the assurance given by [Adviser Hussain], we have suspended the program for Friday and Saturday,” said Sangram Parishad committee coordinator Md. Humayun Kabir at the press conference. “The adviser has sought two days. If the government does not withdraw from the New Mooring Container Terminal contract process within this period, we will be compelled to resume the work stoppage on Sunday.”
That strike started over the weekend at the port’s main jetties, with protesters disrupting the loading and unloading of containers and cargo. On Tuesday, these demonstrations escalated as participants blocked harbor pilot operations at the port, forcing a suspension of ship movements between the jetties and the port’s outer anchorage.
The intensification in activity resulted in the halting of import and export activities at Bangladesh’s largest port, and held container vessels surrounding the gateway at a standstill.
According to data from the CPA, 115 vessels were waiting for cargo handling, including 96 at the outer anchorage and 14 at the jetty as of Wednesday. A report from Bangladeshi publication New Age said that 37,307 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were stacked at the port’s container yard, which contains a maximum capacity of 59,000 TEUs, while 10,817 TEUs of export containers remained stuck at 21 private off-docks during the strike.
Beyond the demands for the cancellation of the NCT contract, Kabir called for the removal of CPA chairman Rear Admiral Sayed Mohammad Moniruzzaman.
Kabir also said the labor group sought the government’s withdrawal of transfer orders issued against protesting employees, as well as assurance that no legal action will be taken in the future against employees who led the movement.
In a countermeasure, the CPA requested government offices to impose overseas travel bans and launch investigations into the assets of 15 employees, including Kabir and the action committee’s other committee coordinator, Md. Ibrahim Khokon, for allegedly instigating disorder and disrupting port operations.
In a joint statement after that evening, 10 trade associations urged the government to act swiftly to resolve the labor issue at Chattogram Port (also known as Chittagong Port), warning that the strikes could trigger an economic “catastrophe” before the national election.
Signatories of the letter included apparel groups such as the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
“For the first time in Chittagong Port’s history, ship movements have been completely stopped. This rare crisis has paralyzed the country’s principal seaport, the heart of the national economy,” the statement read. “A single day’s closure means direct losses of several thousand crore taka. With import‑export activities stalled, especially in the garment sector, the country faces irreparable damage. In the greater national interest and to keep the economy running, resolve the issue immediately. The new government may review the NCT lease decision, but keeping the port shut is unacceptable.”
But the statement was not exclusively directed toward the government, but to the dockworkers’ unions as well.
“You are the lifeblood of this port. You have the right to place demands before the government, but halting ship movements means putting your own house at risk,” the letter read. “We urge you to step back from this exceptional stance. If the new government assures review of your demands, reopening the port will be the greatest act of patriotism.”
On Wednesday, ahead of the strike’s suspension, the BGMEA sent a separate letter to the government’s National Board of Revenue (NBR), urging the federal agency to keep customs operations at the port running around the clock and to allow delivery of imported goods without demurrage charges.
The association warned that any operational disruption that delays shipments exposes exporters to immediate financial losses and the risk of losing future orders.
