Garment workers in Ashulia, the industrial belt north of Dhaka, walked out from 11 December 2016 demanding a monthly minimum wage of Tk 16,000 against the prevailing Tk 5,300, with leaflets circulated after the Garment Sramik Front raised the demand on 25 November. Sixty factory owners suspended operations from 11 December and thousands of workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, where police used batons and water cannons and at least ten people were injured. Units reopened from 26 December on the prime minister's directive, but more than 1,600 workers were then sacked, with lists of terminated workers and their photographs posted at factory gates. The government's crisis management committee promised stern legal action against protest organisers.