Bangladesh: Hundreds of textile factories close in the face of the anger of thousands of workers

Textile workers demonstrate for better wages, November 2, 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – Munir uz ZAMAN

The workers demand 23,000 takas (190 euros), nearly three times more, to cope with the sharp increase in the cost of living and provide for the needs of their families.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, representing factory owners, proposes only a 25% increase.

“After ten years of work, my (monthly) salary is still 10,600 takas ($96). With inflation, how can I survive with a wife and a child? I need a loan every month because my salary is not enough to feed my family,” Nayeem Islam, a 28-year-old worker, told AFP.

The growth of the textile industry has greatly contributed to the economic success of Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world with its 170 million inhabitants.

“We make expensive clothes, they are sold at higher prices overseas” by factory owners, who “make a lot of money.” “Why can’t they pay us better?” asks Nasima, a 30-year-old worker.

Textile workers demonstrate for better wages on November 2, 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – Munir uz ZAMAN

Ten years after the tragedy of Rana Plaza, a textile factory which collapsed in Dhaka in 2013, killing more than 1,100 workers, wages and safety have been improved in factories, the unions recognize, but this progress is largely insufficient.

In addition to the closed factories, several thousand workers also blocked the roads of industrial districts around Dhaka on Thursday.

– “violent repression”-

In Mirpur (west of Dhaka) , riot police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse around 5,000 workers who were blocking a road, noted an AFP correspondent.

In Gazipur, police dispersed a thousand workers, according to a police official, Abou Siddique.

Textile workers demonstrate for better wages on November 2, 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – Munir uz ZAMAN

Paramilitary troops of the Border Guard (BGB) have been deployed to “prevent violence” in the most affected areas, BGB lieutenant-colonel Zahid Parvez told AFP.

Global workers' rights network Clean Clothes Campaign has “strongly condemned the violent repression” of garment protesters, accusing most client brands of refusing to publicly support their demands.

Large brands, including Adidas, Hugo Boss and Puma, however, wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the beginning of the month, having “noticed” that average monthly net salaries had “not been adjusted since 2019 while the “Inflation increased significantly during this period.”

According to the deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Nazmul Hasan, his services suspect the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, opposition) of inciting these demonstrations at a time when violent anti-government rallies are shaking the country to demand the resignation of Sheikh Hasina before the elections scheduled for the end of January.

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