Bangladeshi workers reject 56% wage increase.

DHAKA:

Bangladesh raised the minimum monthly wage for the country’s four million garment workers by 56.25 percent on Tuesday, a decision that was immediately rejected by unions seeking to nearly triple the rate.

The South Asian country’s 3,500 garment factories account for about 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top fashion names, including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.

But conditions are dire for many of the industry’s four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly pay starts at 8,300 taka ($75).

Workers have gone on strike demanding almost a tripling of their wages, with violent scenes in recent days, while employers have offered 25%.

The minimum wage is set by a state-appointed board that includes representatives from manufacturers, unions and wage experts.

“The new minimum monthly wage for garment factory workers has been set at 12,500 taka ($113),” said Raisha Afroz, secretary of the board. AFP.

The number was immediately rejected by the unions, who are demanding at least 23,000 taka.

Unions say their members have been hit hard by persistent inflation, which reached nearly 10% in October, and a cost-of-living crisis caused in part by the authorities’ devaluation of the taka by about 30% against the US dollar of last year.

“This is unacceptable. This is below our expectations,” said Kalpona Akter, head of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation.

Hundreds of workers staged an angry protest a few meters away from the labor ministry after the announcement.

“I reject this new monthly minimum wage,” said garment worker Sajal Mia, 21.

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“It is an injustice for us. The authorities did not take into account the market situation. They are only interested in their own interests,” he added.

The commission usually meets every five years and in 2018 raised the basic minimum from 5,000 taka to 8,000. Garment workers also get at least 300 taka per month as attendance pay.

Earlier on Tuesday, police fired tear gas at thousands of workers who torched a bus outside Dhaka as tensions rose ahead of the announcement.

Police said violence erupted in the industrial city of Gazipur as about 6,000 workers walked out of their factories and staged protests.

“They burnt a bus. We fired tear gas to disperse them,” said Gazipur industrial police unit chief Sarwar Alam. AFP.

Police said about 600 factories making clothes for several major Western brands were closed last week and many were looted as the worst wage protest in a decade hit major industrial areas and suburbs of the capital.

Four factories were set on fire and at least two workers were killed in the violence, with tens of thousands of workers blocking highways and attacking factories.

There was no comment from leading brands that source tens of billions of dollars worth of clothes from Bangladesh and for which South Asian factories are a vital part of their supply chains.

However, last month brands including Gap, Levi Strauss, Lululemon and Patagonia wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina calling for a “successful conclusion” to the negotiations.

“Consultations should seek to raise the minimum wage to a level that corresponds to a level of pay and benefits sufficient to cover workers’ basic needs and some discretionary income,” they said.

The protests coincided with separate violent demonstrations by opposition parties demanding Hasina’s resignation ahead of elections in January.