The minimum monthly pay for Bangladesh’s four million garment workers was increased by 56% on Tuesday, but unions immediately rejected the decision, pushing for an almost threefold increase.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories are responsible for approximately 85% of the country’s $55 billion in annual exports, supplying renowned fashion brands such as Levi’s, Zara, and H&M.
However, the conditions for many of the sector’s four million workers, the majority of whom are women, are dire, with a starting monthly salary of 8,300 taka ($75).
Protests and strikes have erupted as workers demand a nearly threefold increase in wages, while employers have offered a 25% raise.
The state-appointed board, which includes representatives from manufacturers, unions, and wage experts, sets the minimum wage.
“The new minimum monthly wage for garment factory workers has been set at 12,500 taka ($113),” said Raisha Afroz, the board secretary, to AFP.
However, unions rejected this figure, as they have been demanding a minimum wage of 23,000 taka.
Unions argue that their members have been severely affected by high inflation, which reached nearly 10% in October, as well as a cost of living crisis resulting from a 30% depreciation of the taka against the US dollar since last year.
“This is not acceptable. It falls short of our expectations,” said Kalpona Akter, head of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation.
The panel responsible for setting the minimum wage typically convenes every five years. In 2018, it raised the basic minimum wage from 5,000 taka to 8,000 taka. Garment workers also receive a monthly attendance fee of at least 300 taka.
Earlier on Tuesday, police fired tear gas at thousands of workers who set a bus on fire outside Dhaka, as tensions escalated ahead of the announcement.
According to police, violence broke out in the industrial city of Gazipur as approximately 6,000 workers walked out of their factories and staged protests.
“They set a bus on fire. We used tear gas to disperse them,” said Sarwar Alam, the chief of Gazipur industrial police unit, to AFP.
Police reported that around 600 factories, which manufacture clothing for numerous Western brands, were closed last week and many were vandalized, as the largest wage protest in a decade engulfed major industrial areas and a suburb of the capital.
During the violence, four factories were set on fire, and at least two workers were killed. Tens of thousands of workers blocked highways and attacked factories.
These protests coincided with separate violent demonstrations by opposition parties, who demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of the upcoming January elections.