DHAKA: Garment workers in Bangladesh largely returned to work on Thursday after days of protests over wages, although some factories remained closed and isolated demonstrations continued in industrial areas.
The country’s garment wage board agreed on Wednesday to increase minimum pay in the key export sector, which generates around four-fifths of Bangladesh’s export earnings, worth up to $38 billion.
Gazi Jasim Uddin, head of the police unit responsible for industrial zones, said protests had declined sharply compared with previous days.
“In Narayanganj, more than 95 percent of garment factories have resumed operations,” Uddin told AFP.
Isolated protests were reported in Gazipur and Ashulia, two industrial areas near the capital, Dhaka.
“Workers in Ashulia went to factories and started coming out an hour later,” he said. “In Gazipur protesters tried to occupy the highway.”
Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of around 170 million people, is the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, producing clothes for some of the world’s best-known brands.
Workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($240), representing a 140 per cent increase from the current minimum of 12,500 taka.
The government established the wage board on Sunday, comprising representatives of employers and workers, to negotiate a pay increase.
In a statement to reporters, the board said the new minimum wage would be announced in December and come into effect in January.
The dispute reflects longstanding tensions in an industry employing more than four million people, which has faced persistent complaints over wages, working conditions and labour rights.
Before the agreement was announced on Wednesday, tens of thousands of workers marched through industrial areas. Some protesters reportedly hurled bricks, set fire to police vehicles and erected barricades, while police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Monowara, 35, a garment worker in Gazipur, said large numbers of police officers were still patrolling the area.
She said she had been ready to return to work, but her factory had informed employees that it would remain closed until Sunday.
