Bangladesh is facing unprecedented wage protests in the textile sector during which a worker was killed by police on Wednesday, with Washington urging Dhaka to raise wages.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for about 85% of its $55 billion in annual exports, and supply many major global brands, such as Levi’s, Zara (Inditex group) and H&M.
But conditions are dire for many of the four million people working in the sector, the vast majority of whom are women whose starting monthly salary is 8,300 takas (C$103).
Textile industry workers in this poor South Asian country have been protesting for two weeks, demanding a near tripling of the sector’s minimum monthly wage.
A committee appointed by the state announced on Tuesday the increase in wages of textile workers by 56.25%, to 12,500 takas (CA$156) per month, an offer immediately swept aside by the unions.
The unions are demanding a minimum of 23,000 takas (CA$286) per month to enable workers to cope with galloping inflation.
Washington urged authorities on Wednesday to “review the minimum wage decision to ensure it responds to the growing economic pressures facing workers and their families,” the State Department spokesperson said. , Matthew Miller.
Anjuara Khatun, a 23-year-old sewing machine operator and mother of two, was “shot in the head” on Wednesday and died, the victim’s husband, Mohammad Jamal, told AFP. Police opened fire on demonstrators in the industrial city of Gazipur, near the capital Dhaka.
Washington said it was “concerned about the ongoing repression of workers and trade unionists,” calling on Dhaka to “protect the right of workers to peacefully demonstrate.”
Police said fresh violence broke out in Gazipur on Wednesday after a demonstration by nearly 4,000 people protesting against the offer of an increase deemed too low.
Thousands of others blocked a highway, where at least five police officers were injured, two of them seriously, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
” Back against the wall “
Based in the Netherlands, the Clean Clothes Campaign, a garment workers’ rights group, has called the proposed new minimum wage a “poverty wage.”
“The new minimum wage condemns workers to a struggle for survival for the next five years,” the group said in a statement. Many brands sourcing clothing from Bangladesh have long promised to guarantee a living wage, but “they have failed to act, illustrating [tout] the emptiness of their commitments.”
“I am a widow and mother of two children. I get around 13,000 takas including overtime. How can I survive on such little income? My back is against the wall,” says Shahnaj Akter, a textile worker.
These wage protests constitute a major challenge for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 2009.
The opposition is challenging his rule as it prepares for elections due before the end of January.
Security was beefed up in major industrial towns outside Dhaka after unions threatened more protests.
About 600 factories making clothes for many major Western brands were closed last week and dozens of them were ransacked in the biggest wage protest in a decade, according to police.
Four factories were also burned and at least two workers were killed in the violence, with tens of thousands of workers blocking highways and attacking factories.