Bangladesh forms wage board as garment workers protest

Bangladesh has formed a new wage board to review the minimum wage for garment workers as it tries to quell a protest movement that has disrupted key industrial hubs.

Despite the announcement on Sunday, thousands of workers demanding higher wages continued protesting around the capital, Dhaka. Clashes were reported with police, who fired tear gas and sound grenades.

The garment sector is the backbone of Bangladesh’s export-driven economy, employing millions of workers and generating the bulk of the country’s foreign earnings.

Workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($242), more than double the current wage of 12,500 taka ($101). They said the rising costs of food, housing, transport and healthcare have sharply eroded their purchasing power.

The six-member board is to include representatives of the government, workers and factory owners and is tasked with determining a new minimum wage.

“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.

“The workers should return to work and work smoothly,” he added.

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.

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.

Clashes between workers and police in Ashulia injured several people, including police officers, police said.

Bangladesh’s garment industry is the world’s largest after China’s, contributing about 10 percent of gross domestic product.

Manufacturers, however, said the sector is facing mounting challenges, including rising production costs, periodic gas and electricity shortages, and uncertainty in energy markets linked to tensions in the Middle East during the United States-Israel war on Iran.