Two Hundred Bangladesh Factories Shut on Labor Unrest

Thousands of Bangladesh garment workers seeking to more than double their pay to $104 clashed with police on Dhaka’s outskirts, forcing about 400 factories that supply companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) to close. The workers, demonstrating for a third day, pelted factories with bricks and blocked a highway, Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, said by phone. Television images showed police using tear gas on workers, some of whom set fire to a factory warehouse. “It’s frustrating that we had to close the factories,” Murshedy said. “A one-day closure means a huge loss for owners.”
The labor unrest comes five months after the collapse of the eight-story Rana Plaza factory complex killed more than 1,000 people in the worst industrial accident in the South Asian country’s history. The second-lowest wages in Asia after Myanmar has helped spawn Bangladesh’s $19 billion manufacturing industry that supplies global retailers with cheap clothes. At least 70 people, including six police officials, were injured in the clashes in Gazipur and Savar, two industrial belts on Dhaka’s outskirts, Mosharraf Hossain, assistant superintendent of industrial police, told reporters. Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Inditex SA (ITX), Gap Inc. and Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) source goods from Gazipur, according to Murshedy. The protesters demanded a minimum monthly salary of 8,114 taka ($104), up from 3,000 taka now, Murshedy said as he headed into a meeting with government officials. At a Sept. 17 meeting with labor leaders and government officials, the factory owners proposed increasing the monthly basic salary by 600 taka to 3,600 taka. Bangladesh last raised the minimum wage in 2010.


10 injured in Savar
The movement of RMG workers demanding a TK 8000 monthly wage spread to Savar, forcing managements of eleven factories to close down for the day. Industry police SI Omar Farooque said vehicular movement on Dhaka- Aricha highway was disrupted after workers of various RMG factories located in the Savar Municipal areas hit the streets in protest since 8 am on Monday. Ten workers were injured when police resorted to baton charge to disperse the crowd.
Normalcy in the area returned around 10 am after the workers cleared the highway. Omar told bdnews24.com due to workers’ stir , eleven factories have closed down. They are Al Islam Garments, Anlima Dyeing, Standard Group, Pride Group’s H R Textile Mills Limited, Jhumka Garments, Surma Garments, Ofazudding Spinning Mill, Paragon Garments of Savar’s Karnapara and Ulail areas and J K Group’s J K Fabrics Limited, J K Neat Composite Limited, Tanima Neat Composite Limited in Dudhkhenduriapur area. Police said the workers first demonstrated inside the factory premises demanding minimum wage of Tk 8000, but later they came out to demonstrate on the Dhaka-Aricha Hihway. At that time, some workers were seen pelting stones at the factories. Glass panes of some of the factories were shattered in the stone-pelting, forcing police to resort to the baton charge to control the situation.
Meanwhile, workers and management of the Al Muslim Group prevented agitating workers of other factories from vandalising their factory where workers in the morning had resumed work as usual. However, the management later declared holiday to prevent any further untoward incident. SI Omar said, “Situation at present is under control. Additional police have been deployed in the municipality area.” RMG workers of several factories in Gazipur too started agitations on the same demand. Traffics were disrupted for around three hours on Dhaka- Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail Highway due to their demonstration. To avert further problem, around hundred factories there too declared holiday.