November 28, 2024

Higher Wage Demand: Bangladesh shuts down 150 garment factories, fines 11,000 workers demanding higher wage

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NEW DELHI: Bangladesh‘s clothing manufacturers shut down 150 factories ‘indefinitely’ on Saturday while police fined 11,000 workers nationwide for participating in demonstrations demanding a raise in the minimum wage.
The industry’s pay was increased by 56.25 percent to 12,500 taka on Tuesday by a committee appointed by the government. However, garment workers have rejected the increase and are asking for a minimum wage of 23,000 taka.
On Thursday, 15,000 laborers clashed with police on a highway looting Tusuka, a premier plant, as well as a dozen other factories, the AFP reported.”Police have filed cases against 11,000 unidentified people over the attack on Tusuka garment factory,” police inspector Mosharraf Hossain told AFP.
According to authorities, since the violent protests demanding higher wages broke out last month, over 70 factories have been looted or damaged, and at least three workers have died.
According to the police, 150 industries in the key industrial cities of Ashulia and Gazipur had closed since manufacturers feared more strikes when Bangladesh’s working week started on Saturday, the AFP reported.
“The manufacturers invoked Section 13/1 of the labour laws and shut 130 factories at Ashulia indefinitely citing illegal strikes,” Sarwar Alam, head of police in the manufacturing hub, told AFP.
Approximately 85% of Bangladesh’s $55 billion in yearly exports are derived from its 3,500 garment manufacturers, which supply numerous global brands such as Levi’s, Zara, and H&M.
However, many of the four million workers in the sector—the great majority of them being women whose monthly salary was 8,300 taka ($75) until recently—face appalling conditions.



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