Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh are facing disruptions as worker protests over low pay and the rising cost of living rock the country’s industrial hubs. There was a heavy police presence in the Mirpur industrial area of Dhaka on Monday and reports of protests taking place for the third day in the Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur areas, as reported by Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury from the capital.
Wage Demands and Industry Impact
About 500 factories were temporarily shuttered after the protests began on Saturday. Thousands of workers have taken to the streets, facing tear gas and sound grenades from police. In an attempt to quell the demonstrations, Bangladesh formed a new wage board on Sunday to review the minimum wage for garment workers, while Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held an emergency meeting with his ministers and advisers.
Workers are seeking a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($242), more than double the current wage of 12,500 taka ($101). Bangladesh’s garment industry is worth about $38bn and is a key source of export earnings and employment. Workers’ current wages are not enough because of the rising cost of living, Chowdhury said, adding that workers cannot handle the lifestyle with that kind of money, and they want a share of the multibillion-dollar export industry.
Challenges and Industry Responses
The protests come as Bangladesh’s garment industry, which competes with Vietnam’s, Cambodia’s and India’s, faces a range of challenges. Factory owners said the industry is struggling with higher costs, energy market uncertainty during the United States-Israel war on Iran and slowing demand in some export areas.
Still, Bangladesh has among the lowest garment wages in the world, said Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation and a representative for workers on the wage board. Akhter added that if factory owners cannot pay workers properly, they should negotiate better prices with international buyers, and cannot build a business on the backs of underpaid workers.
Mahmud Hasan Khan, the president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, stated that the government has already taken a step by forming the wage board, adding that they expect workers to allow the review process to proceed. Khan warned that if protests continue throughout Monday, they will have no option but to invoke the no work, no pay provision.
