The Mirpur area of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, is usually a hive of activity. One of the country’s five major manufacturing hubs, it is home to more than 300 garment factories, making clothes for global brands and retailers including Walmart, H&M, Zara, Levi’s, Marks & Spencer and Primark. But on Thursday, the last working day of the week in Bangladesh, the area was eerily quiet.
The calm comes after a stormy week, which saw workers take to the streets to protest the national minimum wage, demanding the formation of a government-led Minimum Wage Board and a substantial raise from BDT 12,500 (around $100) to BDT 30,000 (around $240) per month. On November 2, more than 600 of the country’s 4,000 garment factories were forced to suspend operations for the day due to protests. By Tuesday, one worker had been killed in Gazipur, another major industrial hub, as law enforcement agencies moved to contain the unrest, which had spread across major garment manufacturing centers, disrupting factory operations and traffic. Police say more than 100 people were arrested. And by Wednesday, there was a slight reprieve: protests temporarily subsided as the government announced a Minimum Wage Board, and declared that a revised minimum wage structure for garment workers will take effect in December, with higher payments reflected in January payslips.
While the Minimum Wage Board is unlikely to meet protestors’ BDT 30,000 demands ($240), its formation is seen as a major step forward. Wage structure for garment workers hasn’t changed since 2023. “We can say our first demand has been met, as a wage board has been formed and they said that the new wage will take effect in December,” says Sajal Sardar, a sewing machine operator at a knitwear factory in Mirpur. Sardar is one of around four million garment workers in Bangladesh, more than half of whom are women. Despite serving as a cornerstone of the national economy, these workers continue to live in difficult conditions.
