Thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh took to the streets on Monday, blocking major roads and clashing with police as they demanded more than double their current monthly minimum wage.
The protests spread across several industrial areas, including Gazipur, north of the capital, Dhaka, where hundreds of workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway and vandalised several vehicles.
In Mirpur district, large crowds also staged demonstrations, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse them.
The unrest continued despite the government’s announcement on Sunday that it would set up a wage board to review minimum salaries in the garment industry, a major sector that employs millions of people and generates most of Bangladesh’s export earnings.
Labour leaders, however, insist that establishing the board is not enough to address workers’ grievances, citing persistent inflation and the increasing cost of basic household needs.
The demonstrators are demanding a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka, equivalent to about $241, representing more than twice their current earnings.
According to Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, garment workers presently receive about 13,000 taka monthly.
Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, manufactures clothing for several major international fashion brands.
Amid the growing unrest, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman convened an emergency cabinet meeting late on Sunday to address the situation.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told journalists after the meeting that the prime minister had directed the government to protect workers’ rights while improving their living conditions without disrupting production and exports.
“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 said.
He also called on security agencies to take action against individuals involved in violence and disorder.
“We are requesting law enforcement agencies to crack down on those involved in violence, unruly behaviour and unnecessary indiscipline and unrest,” he added.
Kamrul Hasan, general secretary of the Ekota Garments Sramik Federation, said on Monday that some labour leaders had reportedly gone into hiding amid the unrest.
He said the scale of the demonstrations had taken labour representatives by surprise, given that the government had already agreed to establish a 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,” Hasan said.
Meanwhile, industry representatives, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that workers at no fewer than 529 factories in Dhaka and surrounding industrial zones, including Savar, Ashulia, Jirani and Gazipur, had abandoned their workplaces on Monday.