Garment workers in Bangladesh staged protests across Dhaka and Gazipur on Sunday, blocking major roads and highways while demanding an increase in the minimum monthly wage to BDT 30,000 (approximately ₹23,000).
The demonstrations turned violent in parts of Gazipur, where protesters set fire to a police box on a major highway. The unrest prompted the government to announce the formation of a new minimum wage board and appeal to workers to return to their factories.
The current minimum wage for garment workers was announced in November 2023 and came into effect in December of the same year. The existing wage structure is scheduled to expire next month.
The protests have affected Bangladesh’s garment industry, which employs more than four million workers across approximately 4,000 registered factories.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), garment exports reached $38.70 billion during the 2025–26 financial year.
PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT IN GAZIPUR
In Gazipur, garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, demanding a substantial increase in their monthly wages, according to local media reports.
Protesters carrying sticks occupied several locations along the highway in Kaliakair upazila, approximately 55 kilometres from Dhaka.
Reports said several workers had initially marked their attendance at nearby factories before joining the demonstrations.
The situation escalated when protesters allegedly set fire to a police box situated along the highway. Local police station officer-in-charge Iftekhar Hossain confirmed the incident, according to the Dhaka Tribune.
Five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh were deployed to assist in controlling the situation.
Meanwhile, in Dhaka, garment workers from several areas of Mirpur blocked a major road, disrupting traffic and prompting authorities to close the gates of a nearby metro station. Police personnel were deployed to manage the situation.
GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW MINIMUM WAGE BOARD
Amid growing unrest, Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury announced the formation of a new minimum wage board and urged workers to withdraw their road blockades and resume work.
Speaking at a press conference at the Secretariat, the minister said the government was giving the workers’ demands the highest priority.
“Their demand was a wage board; today their wage board has been formed. The board has been formed with the members they provided as representatives. Now, I hope they will leave the streets and return to their factories,” he said, according to bdnews24.
The minister added that the board members would be encouraged to begin discussions at the earliest opportunity. Further negotiations over the proposed wage revision will involve representatives of workers and factory owners.
WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW WAGE BOARD?
Senior District and Sessions Judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman has been appointed chairman of the newly constituted wage board.
The board includes representatives from factory owners, workers and an independent member.
The members are:
- Chairman: Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman, Senior District and Sessions Judge.
- Factory owners’ representatives: ABM Shamsuddin, BGMEA director, and Asif Ayub, joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation.
- Workers’ representatives: Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation, and Anwar Hossain, president of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal.
- Independent representative: Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, professor of public administration at Dhaka University.
The formation of the wage board marks the government’s latest response to growing demands for better pay in Bangladesh’s garment sector. The next round of discussions is expected to focus on the proposed monthly minimum wage of BDT 30,000.