Nearly 150 Bangladesh clothing factories shut as workers strike over pay

Nearly 150 clothing factories have been shut in Bangladesh as workers strike for higher pay, disrupting production in one of the country’s biggest export industries.

Workers are demanding a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka (£182), up from the current 12,500 taka. They say the existing rate is not enough to meet the rising cost of living.

The closures have affected garment-making centres in Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur. On Sunday, protesters blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur for about an hour before police intervened.

Police superintendent Mohammad Amjad Hossain told the BBC that 13 factories were closed on Saturday night and 16 more during unrest on Sunday morning. The garment manufacturers’ associations have called for factories to be protected and warned that sites unable to keep producing would remain closed indefinitely under labour law.

Bangladesh’s garment industry employs about four million people and generates nearly $40bn (£30bn) in exports each year, equivalent to 10% of the country’s GDP. Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest exporter of ready-to-wear clothing after China, and prolonged disruption could affect international buyers.

The government formed a minimum-wage board on 1 November to recommend a revised pay structure. The board has said it aims to complete its recommendations by the end of the month; the new structure is expected to take effect from 1 December.