Bidi workers of Jessore and Tangail districts formed human chains on Monday to press their seven-point charter of demands, which include providing alternative jobs for them before shutting bid production.
The agitation programmes were held in front of Jashore Press Club and Tangail Press Club at noon, according to media release received in Dhaka.
The other demands of the workers include not increasing the tariff on bidi sector and offering them a weekly holiday.
South Zone Bidi Federation convener Bazlur Rahman, Bidi Workers Federation central women affairs secretary Maya Begum, Jessore District Bidi Workers Union leader Mizanur Rahman, and its members Saiful Alam, Hakimon Begum and Asadul Islam, among others, spoke out at the chain in Jessore.
Over a hundred leaders and activists of the Bidi Federation joined the programme.
Tangail District Bidi Workers Federation president Mahmudul Hasan Manik Mia, its secretary Mehedi Hasan and organising secretary M Tarik Mia, among others, delivered speech at Tangail human chain programme, attended by more 100 leaders and activists of the federation.
In their speech, the leaders said over 2 million people, including the unprivileged, widows and persons with disabilities, are working in the Bidi industry finding no others alternative jobs.
The workers will face financial hardship if the industry is shut without arranging alternative employment for them, they added.