New protests by factory workers

DHAKA: Protesting workers forced a dozen Bangladeshi garment factories near the capital Dhaka to shut on Monday in a repeat of major industrial unrest that hit the sector last month. About 2,000 employees demonstrated over low pay in the Ashulia industrial area, where hundreds of factories temporarily closed after riots in June.

“The workers were demanding higher wages at one sweater factory, which prompted the owners to shut down the plant indefinitely,” deputy police chief of Dhaka district Monowar Hossain said. Bangladesh’s garment workers, who make clothes for major Western brands such as Walmart and H & M, have been demanding wages of at least 5,000 taka (70 dollars) a month. The current minimum wage is just 25 dollars. The government has said it would raise the salaries of the country’s three million garment workers by the end of July and urged them to be patient.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2010.