[1/3] Security forces remain vigilant in front of the garment factories, following clashes between garment industry workers and police over pay, at the Ashulia area, outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 8, 2023.
REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain Acquire Licensing RightsDHAKA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - One female worker was killed and several others were injured in Bangladesh on Wednesday during clashes between police and stone-throwing garment workers who are demanding a bigger pay rise, police said.
Following a week of deadly clashes between garment industry workers and police over pay, the Bangladesh government on Tuesday said that the minimum wage would rise by 56.25% to 12,500 taka ($114) a month from Dec. 1, the first increase in five years.
Police said they used teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests by hundreds of workers who rejected the new pay rise and took to streets in the garment hub of Gazipur, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
Low wages have helped Bangladesh build its garment industry, with some 4,000 factories employing 4 million workers, supplying brands such as H&M and GAP.
Persons:
Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Ashraf Uddin, Ruma Paul, Sudipto Ganguly
Organizations:
Security, REUTERS, Rights DHAKA, Police, GAP, Thomson
Locations:
Dhaka, Bangladesh, Gazipur