Overview
- Garment workers have staged mass walkouts since Oct 31, demanding a rise in the entry‑level monthly wage from about 12,500 taka to 30,000 taka and forcing hundreds of factories to halt production.
- The six‑member wage board said it has agreed in principle to raise the industry minimum and will finalise recommendations by December so revised salaries can be paid from December or January, but it has not specified the size of the increase.
- Clashes between protesters and police have turned violent with officers using tear gas and sound grenades, hundreds of arrests reported, dozens injured, and at least one worker, 21‑year‑old Toufiq Sheikh, dying after being beaten while filming an incident.
- Authorities have deployed additional Border Guard Bangladesh platoons and large numbers of police to industrial belts around Dhaka, and government advisers have publicly accused supporters of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina of infiltrating the unrest.
- Global buyers and major brands are closely monitoring shipment risk as factories pause work during a crucial production window, and prolonged disruption or a large wage rise could push buyers to press for higher productivity or shift orders to lower‑cost suppliers.