Bangladesh: textile workers demanding wage increases return to factories

Dhaka - Textile industry workers in Bangladesh largely returned to their factories on Thursday, the day after an agreement in principle was announced regarding the minimum wage increase they had been demanding on the streets since last week.

The number of protesters recorded in the morning in the industrial suburbs of the capital, Dhaka, decreased significantly, police official Gazi Jasim Uddin told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“In the Narayanganj district, over 95 percent of factories have resumed normal operations,” detailed Uddin, who nonetheless reported demonstrations in Gazipur and Ashulia.

Since Saturday, thousands of employees in this sector, which is vital to the country's economy, have taken to the streets daily. They are demanding higher wages amid high inflation and rising global energy prices.

As the world's second-largest apparel exporter, Bangladesh employs four million workers in some 4,000 textile factories and derives over 80 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from the sector.

Violent clashes have broken out between strikers and police across several areas of Dhaka in recent days.

On Wednesday, a government-appointed committee of worker and industry representatives announced a minimum wage increase. The exact amount will be set in December and will take effect the following month.

Workers are demanding a 140 percent increase in their monthly minimum wage, rising from an average of 12,500 takas today to 33,000 takas, to offset the rising cost of living.

Workshops in Bangladesh produce garments, including T-shirts, jeans and jumpers, for major retailers in Europe and the US.