The Bangladesh Road Transport Workers' Federation on Monday threatened to go on a 96-hour work abstention if the government does not take any effective step to meet their eight-point demand by 21 days.
Usman Ali, general secretary of the federation, came up with the statement on Monday, the second straight day of their 48-hour transport strike, reports UNB.
"We give the government 21 days to resolve the problem and if it doesn't take any effective step by the time, we'll go on a 96-hour work abstention," Usman Ali said.
He, however, expressed the hope that the government will resolve the problem through talks within the deadline.
Meanwhile, people endured awful sufferings on the second consecutive day on Monday due to the 48-hour transport strike enforced by transport workers.
The strike which was enforced at 6am on Sunday will end at 6am on Tuesday.
In the capital, there was no public transport on the roads like the previous day. However, no untoward incident occurred on second day.
In the morning, transport workers took position at several points in the capital obstructing movement of vehicles.
CNG-run auto-rickshaws, private vehicles and rickshaws were seen plying roads with a large number of commuters waiting on roads for transport to reach their destinations.
The number of government-run Bangladesh Road Transport Commission (BRTC) buses was also very negligible.
No inter-district buses left Gabtoli, Mohakhali or Sayedabad terminal throughout the day like Sunday.
Sources said that no long-route buses left their respective bus stands following the strike.
In Habiganj, a group of transport workers swooped on Nazrul Islam Talukdar, a local journalist of Dainik Protidiner Bani, while picketing at Kalarduba on Habiganj-Baniachang road in Baniachang upazila in the morning.
They also threw his motorbike and a newspaper into a roadside water body while he was going to his office by the bike.
The demands of the transport workers include amending the Road Transport Act, making all the offences by road accident 'bailable', cancellation of the provision of fining Tk 500,000 for involvement in a road accident, keeping a representative from their federation in any probe body formed for road accident, fixing minimum educational qualification for getting driving licence to class-V, and stopping police harassment on roads.
Earlier on October 12, the workers' association decided to stage demonstrations by going on a two-day work abstention from October 28 to press home their eight-point demand that included amendments to the Road Transport Act, if their demands are not met by October 27.