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Thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh clashed with police on Monday as protests spread across the country’s industrial centres over demands for a more than twofold increase in the monthly minimum wage.
The workers are demanding a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka ($241), compared with their current pay of about 13,000 taka, according to Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity.
In Gazipur, north of the capital, Dhaka, hundreds of workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway and vandalised several vehicles. In Mirpur district, large groups of demonstrators took to the streets, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse them, AFP reporters witnessed.
The demonstrations continued despite the government’s announcement on Sunday that it would establish a wage board to review minimum pay in the garment industry.
The sector employs millions of people and accounts for the bulk of Bangladesh’s export earnings. The country is the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China.
However, labour leaders said the proposed wage board was not enough to address workers’ concerns, citing persistent inflation and the rising cost of household expenses.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held an emergency cabinet meeting late Sunday to address the unrest.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the prime minister had directed the government to protect workers’ rights while ensuring that production and exports continued without disruption.
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“The prime minister… instructed us to ensure workers’ rights and improve their living standards. He also instructed us to ensure that production and exports continue unhindered,” Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.
He also called on law enforcement agencies to take action against those involved in violence and unrest.
“We are requesting law enforcement agencies to crack down on those involved in violence, unruly behaviour and unnecessary indiscipline and unrest,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kamrul Hasan, general secretary of the Ekota Garments Sramik Federation, said some labour leaders had gone into hiding following the protests.
He told AFP that the unrest had caught labour leaders unprepared because the government had already announced plans to establish the wage board.
“We were not prepared for this unrest either, as the wage board has already been formed. But workers are now protesting over wages and other unresolved issues,” he said.
Industry representatives, who requested anonymity, said workers from at least 529 factories in Dhaka and surrounding industrial areas, including Savar, Ashulia, Jirani and Gazipur, had left their workplaces on Monday.
