Thousands of workers set up barricades on the main arteries of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Wednesday, demanding wage increases from garment factories that supply major Western brands, after several days of demonstrations left at least two dead.
• Also read: Bangladesh: Clashes between police and garment workers demanding wage increases
Police said at least 5,000 garment workers set up roadblocks in the capital’s Mirpur district.
But according to an AFP correspondent on site, the number of demonstrators could be significantly higher.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Omar Faruq said “no violence” was reported on Wednesday.
However, around 1,500 protesters threw stones at several factories in the industrial city of Gazipur, regional industrial police chief Sarwar Alam told AFP.
AFP
“We fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters,” he said.
The workers are demanding a monthly minimum wage of 23,000 taka (190 euros), almost three times more than the current 8,300 taka (70 euros).
Sabina Begum, a 22-year-old seamstress, told AFP she joined the protests because she was tired of “fighting for the livelihood” of her family.
“How can we survive on just under 8,300 taka a month when we already have to pay 5,000 to 6,000 taka just to rent a one-room house?” asks Ms. Begum.
According to the unions, the wages and working conditions for a large proportion of the four million workers in the industry are catastrophic.
“A decent salary”
Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest clothing exporters, with a textile industry of around 3,500 factories supplying Western brands such as Gap, H&M and Levi Strauss, accounting for 85% of this South Asian country’s $55 billion in annual exports.
“We demand justice, we want a decent salary,” Nurul Islam, a 25-year-old garment worker, told AFP, accusing ruling party supporters of attacking the protesters. Police could not confirm such an attack.
AFP
But according to the newspaper Prothom Alo, citing eyewitnesses, ruling party activists used firearms.
“The men of the ruling party attacked our people yesterday,” Mr. Islam said. “The (factory) owners don’t want to increase our wages. Do we have to die of hunger and injustice?
Major brands including Adidas, Hugo Boss and Puma wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month “noting” that average monthly net salaries “have not been adjusted since 2019, while inflation rose significantly during this period.”
According to unions, workers’ anger exploded when the powerful manufacturers’ association proposed a 25% increase and ignored their demands.
The protests began early last week, but on Monday the protests turned violent as tens of thousands of workers walked out in Gazipur, where a six-story factory was set on fire, resulting in the death of a worker.
Violent political protest
At least a second worker was killed, fatally injured in clashes between police and protesters and died on the way to hospital.
Ms Hasina’s government this year set up a committee responsible for setting a new minimum wage.
On Tuesday, Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), promised that they would increase the minimum wage from next month, but did not mention the amount of the increase.
The labor protests come as Bangladesh is rocked by violent anti-government rallies in several cities. Supporters of opposition parties are calling for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation ahead of elections scheduled for the end of January.
According to authorities in Kuliarchar, north of Dhaka, two opposition activists died under unclear circumstances.
On Sunday, police charged Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and more than 150 other senior party members with the murder of a police officer.