Overview
- The government announced a six-member wage board on Sunday to review the garment minimum pay after weekend protests forced around 25–30 factories to close in hubs such as Ashulia, Gazipur and Mirpur.
- Workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka, more than double the current 12,500 taka, citing sharp rises in food, housing, transport and healthcare costs.
- Thousands of protesters have continued street actions despite the board's creation, with clashes that injured people, use of tear gas and sound grenades by police, attacks on police property and Border Guard Bangladesh deployments.
- Industry officials warn that sustained factory shutdowns and transport blockades could delay export shipments and payments from international buyers for a sector that employs about 4 million people and accounts for the bulk of Bangladesh's exports.
- The wage board, chaired by Senior Judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman and including worker, owner and an independent representative, has no announced timetable and workers remain skeptical about owner influence, leaving negotiations and the next moves uncertain.