Overview
- The government set up a tripartite committee on Sunday to renegotiate the garment sector minimum wage with representatives from workers, factory owners and officials.
- Street protests continued into Monday with thousands of textile workers blocking the Dhaka–Tangail highway, burning vehicles and staging marches that police dispersed with tear gas.
- Unions say the current floor wage of about 13,000 takas is insufficient and are pressing for slightly over 30,000 takas to match high living costs and inflation above 8 percent.
- Interior Minister Salahuddin Ahmed ordered security forces to crackdown on violent acts and stressed keeping production and exports flowing as factory groups warned that prolonged unrest could delay shipments to buyers.
- The garment industry is Bangladesh’s main export engine, employing millions, so continued strikes could halt factory output, cut foreign exchange earnings and squeeze workers’ already tight household budgets.