Bangladesh police fired rubber bullets and tear gas Thursday, officials and witnesses said, as violence broke out at a protest by garment workers who rejected a government-offered pay rise.
A government-appointed panel raised wages on Tuesday by 56.25 percent for the South Asian nation’s 4 million garment factory workers, who are seeking a near-tripling of their monthly wage.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top brands including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.
But conditions are dire for many of the sector’s four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly pay starts at 8,300 taka ($75).
Police said violence broke out in the industrial city of Gazipur, outside the capital Dhaka, after more than 1,000 workers staged a protest on a highway to reject the panel’s offer.
“The workers tried to block the road… and we had to fire tear (gas) shells and rubber bullets to disperse them,” Ashok Kumar Pal Gazipur deputy police chief told reporters at the scene who witnessed the incident.
Police said workers also threw bricks and stones at officers and lit fires on roads.—INP
