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Bangladesh Forms Wage Board Amid Garment Worker Protests
Confirmed
In Short: Bangladesh has formed a wage board to address garment workers' demands for higher wages, following protests that disrupted the country's key export industry.
Bangladesh has formed a six-member wage board to review the minimum wage for garment workers, as protests demanding a monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($242) continue around Dhaka.
The protests, which began on Saturday, have prompted about 30 garment factories on the outskirts of Dhaka to declare holidays, according to Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of the Ashulia Industrial Police.
Despite the announcement of the wage board, thousands of workers are still protesting, citing rising costs of living as a major factor.
The garment industry is the world’s second-largest after China’s, contributing about 10 percent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product and employing millions of workers.
Labor and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury warned that prolonged factory closures and production disruptions could delay export shipments and payments from international buyers, creating further difficulties for manufacturers and workers.
The wage board will include representatives from the government, workers, and factory owners, tasked with determining a new minimum wage.
Clashes between workers and police in Ashulia injured several people, including police officers, according to police.
The government urged workers to return to work, saying the wage board addresses their key demand.
The garment sector is the backbone of Bangladesh’s export-driven economy, generating the bulk of the country’s foreign earnings.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national carrier, recently signed a deal with Boeing for eight 787-10s, two 787-9s, and four 737 MAX 8 aircraft, representing its first-ever purchase of the largest Dreamliner model.
What's confirmed
- Bangladesh’s garment industry is the world’s largest after China’s, contributing about 10 percent of gross domestic product.
- The protests began on Saturday and prompted about 30 garment factories on the outskirts of Dhaka to declare holidays, according to Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of the Ashulia Industrial Police.
- Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury warned that prolonged factory closures and production disruptions could delay export shipments and payments from international buyers, creating further difficulties for manufacturers and workers alike.
- Clashes between workers and police in Ashulia injured several people, including police officers, police said.
What's still developing
- “The issue of forming the wage board has been resolved. There will be no more problems now,” Ministry of Labour and Employment adviser M Sakhawat Hossain Chowdhury told reporters.
- Workers in the South Asian nation are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($245), more than double the current 12,500 taka, saying rising costs of food, housing, transport and health care have sharply eroded their purchasing power.
- The dispute has raised concerns about disruption to an industry that employs about 4 million workers, generates more than 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings and supplies clothing to many leading Western brands.
- Hundreds of workers blocked a major intersection in the capital, while demonstrations in other industrial zones disrupted traffic and factory operations.
- Officers used tear gas and sound grenades to disperse protesters.
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