Bangladesh agrees to raise garment minimum wage as protests and clashes continue

Wage board sets a timetable

Bangladesh's newly formed wage board held its first meeting on 4 November, after the government set it up on Sunday, 1 November. Its chairman, Syed Azad Subhani, a district and sessions judge, told reporters afterward that workers would receive their higher wages in January. The board has not yet discussed how large the increase will be and will hold further meetings to set the new pay structure. Babul Akhter, the workers' representative on the board, urged protesters to return to their workplaces. La Libre reports that the amount will be fixed in December, while Repubblica says the first updated salaries are due in January 2027.

Deaths, arrests and clashes

Protests began on Saturday, 31 October, and have continued since. Repubblica reports that a 35-year-old worker died in hospital after being beaten with sticks on 1 November, the same day police said he was filming acts of vandalism. Repubblica counts four workers dead since the protests began. It also reports 57 arrests in total, at least 29 on 2 November and 16 on 3 November, and says the identities of those detained and the charges against them remain unknown. Police have said they will use drones and body cameras to strengthen surveillance. On 4 November, police fired stun grenades at a gathering that was praying for the dead worker at Chandana Chowrasta, after a dispute over the timing of the prayers, according to local media reports carried by Telegraaf. The Daily Star reported that three journalists, correspondents for Star News and Ekattor Television and a cameraman, were attacked by a group armed with sticks.

Factories and exports

Repubblica reports that more than 600 factories in and around Dhaka shut on 1 November because of the protests. Nasz Dziennik says more than 100 factories near the capital halted production during Thursday's demonstrations, when protesters also blocked a key highway. AFP quotes police official Gazi Jasim Uddin saying over 95% of factories in Narayanganj had returned to normal activity on Thursday morning, with protests still reported in Gazipur and Ashulia. Telegraaf reports that clothing exporters fear prolonged closures and delivery delays. Repubblica adds that the BGMEA has threatened to apply a no-work, no-pay rule if the protests continue. According to AFP, Bangladesh is the second-largest clothing exporter after China, employs about 4 million workers in roughly 4,000 textile factories, and earns more than 80% of its foreign-currency revenue from the sector.

Workers' demands and the wage gap

The current minimum wage is 12,500 taka a month, which the New York Times puts at roughly $100. Workers' demands differ by outlet: Telegraaf reports 30,000 taka, Repubblica 32,000 taka and La Libre 33,000 taka, while La Libre and the New York Times both describe the requested rise as 140%. The Abiti Puliti campaign notes that the minimum was raised from 8,000 to 12,500 taka in 2023, below the 23,000 taka workers sought at that time, a figure backed by independent research from the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies.

Minimum set in 202312,500

Workers' 2023 demand23,000

Minimum set in 2023

12500 taka

Workers' 2023 demand

23000 taka

Data from the article text

Mohammad Helal, a 26-year-old garment worker in Ashulia, told the New York Times in an interview:

“The current minimum salary is inadequate. It cannot cover one person's monthly living cost.”

He suggested the government could instead start paying workers' electricity, gas and rent costs, and said that in that case workers would stop demanding a salary increase.