Bangladesh garment factories disrupted as protests continue for third day

Workers in Bangladesh’s largest export sector are demanding a minimum wage increase amid rising inflation.

Garment workers block a road in Dhaka during a protest calling for higher wages on November 1, 2026 [AFP]

Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh are facing disruptions as worker protests over low pay and the rising cost of living rock the country’s industrial hubs.

There was a heavy police presence in the Mirpur industrial area of Dhaka on Monday and reports of protests taking place for the third day in the Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur areas, Al Jazeera’a Tanvir Chowdhury reported from the capital.

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About 500 factories were temporarily shuttered after the protests began on Saturday. Thousands of workers have taken to the streets, facing tear gas and sound grenades from police.

In an attempt to quell the demonstrations, Bangladesh formed a new wage board on Sunday to review the minimum wage for garment workers. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, meanwhile, held an emergency meeting with his ministers and advisers.

Workers are seeking a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($242), more than double the current wage of 12,500 taka ($101).

Bangladesh’s garment industry is worth about $38bn and is a key source of export earnings and employment.

But workers’ current wages are “not enough because of the rising cost of living”, Chowdhury said.

Workers “cannot handle the lifestyle with that kind of money, and they want a share” of the multibillion-dollar export industry, he added.

The protests come as Bangladesh’s garment industry, which competes with Vietnam’s, Cambodia’s and India’s, faces a range of challenges.

Factory owners said the industry is struggling with higher costs, energy market uncertainty during the United States-Israel war on Iran and slowing demand in some export areas.

Still, Bangladesh has “among the lowest garment wages in the world”, said Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation and a representative for workers on the wage board.

“If factory owners cannot pay workers properly, they should negotiate better prices with international buyers. They cannot build a business on the backs of underpaid workers,” Akhter added.

The president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Mahmud Hasan Khan, said the government “has already taken a step by forming the wage board”.

“We expect workers to allow the review process to proceed,” he said.

If protests continue throughout Monday, Khan added, “we will have no option but to invoke the ‘no work, no pay’ provision.”

在通货膨胀加剧的情况下，孟加拉国最大出口行业的工人们要求提高最低工资。

2026年11月1日，孟加拉国达卡，服装工人封锁道路，举行抗议活动，要求提高工资。[法新社]

由于工人抗议工资过低和生活成本不断上涨，孟加拉国数百家服装厂面临停工，这场抗议活动震动了该国的工业中心。

周一，达卡米尔普尔工业区警力部署严密，萨瓦尔、阿舒利亚和加济布尔地区连续第三天发生抗议活动。半岛电视台记者坦维尔·乔杜里从首都报道了这一消息。

孟加拉国工人因低工资抗议与警方发生冲突（共4条记录，此为第1条）

孟加拉国服装工人抗议活动引发抗议，并成立工资委员会（共4条，此为第2条）

孟加拉国人均GDP预计将超过印度（共4个国家/地区）：这意味着什么？

列表 4/4：值此国际劳工组织公约颁布 30 周年之际，印度的居家劳动者要求获得平等权利

周六抗议活动开始后，约有500家工厂暂时关闭。数千名工人走上街头，遭到警方催泪瓦斯和声波弹的镇压。

为了平息示威活动，孟加拉国于周日成立了一个新的工资委员会，负责审查服装工人的最低工资标准。与此同时，总理塔里克·拉赫曼召集部长和顾问召开了紧急会议。

工人们要求每月最低工资为 30,000 塔卡（242 美元），是目前工资 12,500 塔卡（101 美元）的两倍多。

孟加拉国的服装产业价值约 380 亿美元，是出口收入和就业的重要来源。

乔杜里表示，由于生活成本不断上涨，工人目前的工资“不够用”。

他还补充说，工人们“靠这点钱无法维持现在的生活方式，他们想要从价值数十亿美元的出口产业中分一杯羹”。

孟加拉国的服装业正面临一系列挑战，与越南、柬埔寨和印度的服装业展开竞争，而此时正值孟加拉国爆发抗议活动之际。

工厂主表示，该行业正面临成本上涨、美以对伊朗战争期间能源市场的不确定性以及部分出口地区需求放缓等问题。

尽管如此，孟加拉国的服装工人工资仍然是“世界上最低的服装工资之一”，孟加拉国服装和工业工人联合会秘书长兼工资委员会工人代表巴布尔·阿赫特尔 (Babul Akhter) 表示。

阿赫特尔补充说：“如果工厂主无法支付工人合理的工资，他们应该与国际买家协商更优惠的价格。他们不能靠剥削工人来建立自己的企业。”

孟加拉国服装制造商和出口商协会主席马哈茂德·哈桑·汗表示，政府“已经通过成立工资委员会迈出了一步”。

他说：“我们希望员工们能够配合审查程序进行。”

汗补充说，如果抗议活动持续到周一，“我们将别无选择，只能启动‘不工作，不付薪’条款。”