Transport workers have yet to make any decision on their next course of action as they are still bargaining with the government to meet their demands, insiders said on Friday.
While nation-wide truckers' strikes were lifted, a section of transport workers, especially in the south-western part of the country, has been observing "work abstention" in many districts, protesting the enforcement of the Road Transport Act, 2018.
They consider the law too harsh for them.
"Transport workers and owners hold a meeting with the home minister at his residence tomorrow (Saturday), where demands will be discussed and some sorts of decision may come," said Shajahan Khan, executive president of the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, or BRTWF.
Mr Khan, a former minister for shipping, disclosed this after a two-day closed-door extended meeting of the lobbyist group held in the city's Segunbagicha area.
With the government intervention and soft enforcement of the law, inter-district vehicular movement across the country has been getting normal, though operations of cargo-laden trucks and covered vans still remain low since the strike called on November 19.
About the strike, Mr Khan said, "Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on its leaflet to raise consciousness about the new law only propagates the penalties for transport workers."
The leaflets published and distributed by the BRTA mentioned 13 penalties for drivers under different clauses of the new law.
These leaflets enraged the drivers, forcing them to call nationwide strike, he said.
Mr Khan said there are also penalties for pedestrians and others under the new law, but those were not mentioned in the BRTA leaflet.
Asked about the continuation of the strike, he said, "Owners have been telling their workers to drive vehicles but if they don't drive, what can we do?"
He said leaders of the country's transport sector sits again for discussion with the home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today at his residence to discuss their demands.
About the strike called by truck and covered van workers, he said, "The Tejgaon truck stand based worker's federation does not function under the banner of our grouping, so I can't tell you anything about that."
The Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Goods Transportation Workers and Owners Association withdrew their countrywide strike after the home minister set a deadline of June next for readying necessary documents before the full enforcement of the law.
Still, transportation of goods has returned to normal.
