Bangladesh Garment Wage Board Agrees to Raise Pay Amid Ongoing Protests

Bangladesh's garment wage board agreed on Wednesday to raise minimum pay in the export sector following five days of protests and clashes.

Tens of thousands of workers marched through industrial areas on Wednesday morning, throwing bricks, torching police vehicles, and erecting barricades, while police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Protests eased in the afternoon after the wage agreement was announced, though there was no immediate indication that workers would return to factories and restart production.

Union leader Kamrul Hasan stated that many workers remained unsure what the announcement meant and were asking on social media whether their pay had increased because the board did not specify the size of the increase. Mahmudul Hasan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, urged workers to return to work, stating that unrest should subside now that progress is evident.

The six-member wage board was established by the government on Sunday to negotiate a pay rise. Workers had previously demanded an increase in their monthly minimum wage from Tk12,500 to Tk30,000, aiming for a revision by December so revised salaries would be received in January. The garment industry employs more than four million people and generates about 80 percent of export earnings in the nation of 170 million people.