Bangladesh garment wage protests enter third day, hundreds of factories hit despite new wage board

Protests by garment workers in Bangladesh continued for a third day on Monday, disrupting hundreds of factories in the country's main industrial belts around Dhaka. Al Jazeera reported that about 500 factories had been temporarily shut since the protests began on Saturday, with demonstrations in Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur and a heavy police presence in Dhaka's Mirpur industrial area.

Workers want the minimum monthly wage raised to 30,000 taka (about $242), more than double the current 12,500 taka (about $101), which was set in late 2023. They say rising prices of food, rent, transport and healthcare have made the present wage inadequate. According to ANI, the demand gained momentum after the government announced a new pay scale that roughly doubles salaries of public employees.

Clashes and a wage board

Police used tear gas and sound grenades against protesters over the weekend, and some protesters allegedly threw bricks at police, according to reports. No deaths were reported. On Sunday, the government formed a wage board with representatives of the government, workers and owners to review garment pay, but the move did not end the protests.

Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, urged workers to let the board do its work and warned that factories could invoke the "no work, no pay" rule if protests continued. Owners point to falling orders, stagnant prices from buyers and higher costs, including energy uncertainty linked to the war involving Iran. Workers' representative Babul Akhter argued that owners should seek better prices from international brands rather than keep wages low.

Why it matters for India

Garments account for more than 80% of Bangladesh's export earnings and employ around four million people, most of them women. Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter after China, and Indian apparel and textile makers compete with it for orders from the same global brands, so prolonged disruption or a sharp rise in costs there could shift the picture for exporters in India as well.