THOUSANDS OF WORKERS DEMAND PAY RISES, POLICE USE TEAR GAS TO DISPERSE THEM

DHAKA, NOVEMBER 1 /SRNA/ - Thousands of factory workers took to the streets in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, and neighbouring industrial districts, demanding pay rises, while police used tear gas and batons to disperse them.

Amid rising living costs, trade unions and textile workers are demanding that the minimum starting monthly wage be increased to 30,000 Bangladeshi taka /$220/, up from the current 12,500 taka set in 2023, DPA reported.

In the Mirpur neighbourhood of Dhaka, several hundred workers blocked a major intersection, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Later, demonstrators set a police van on fire, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.

Police Inspector Mohsin Sheikh said that authorities had closed three metro stations as clashes spread to nearby areas.

Demonstrators armed with sticks blocked the Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the industrial district of Gazipur, which connects the capital, Dhaka, with the northern parts of the country. The district is home to most of Bangladesh's export-oriented garment factories.

The government today formed a six-member panel comprising representatives of factory owners, trade unions and the government to review minimum wages for workers in the garment sector.

Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment producer after China, earns around $39 billion annually from clothing exports, mainly to European and US markets. The sector employs more than four million workers, mostly women, across 4,000 factories.