News / Garment factories set on fire as Bangladesh workers demand 'living wage'

Photo:© Moheen Reeyad Wikimedia Commons

Demonstrations by garment workers in Bangladesh have forced stoppages at more than 400 factories as they seek a wage hike to combat nearly double-digit inflation.

Today, the government sent in the para-military Border Guard Bangladesh to disperse angry staff who had set fire to factories, and there are reports of two workers having died as the labour unrest spreads across industrial zones in Dhaka and adjoining areas.

For more than a week, workers in garment districts in Ashulia and Gazipur have been demanding minimum monthly wages of Tk23,000 ($210), and real anger was sparked when they were offered only $91. They currently earn $72.50.

Factory owners have since agreed to put a higher offer, but labour leaders say workers won’t accept a figure unless it is “enough to meet their needs”.

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, yesterday warned that factory owners would use Section 13 (1) of the labour law, which allows them to close a factory on a  “no work, no pay” basis, if the  demonstrations and damage continues.

Meanwhile, the country’s supply chains have been hit by three days of blockades of railways, roads and waterways by political opposition parties, causing major delays and knock-on effects.

At least one box ship had to delay sailing by a day due to not receiving export containers in time, and depot owners have reportedly sought police deployment on the roads so they can send boxes safely to port jetties.

Despite this, the blockades have halved deliveries of containers from the port yard to Chittagong, with only 2,788 teu delivered on Tuesday and 2,982 teu on Wednesday, compared with the daily 4,000 teu usually moved.