After protests, Bangladesh agrees to raise garment workers' wages

Bangladesh's wage board said on Wednesday that it has agreed to raise the minimum wage for garment workers after five days of protests in the sector.

Since last Saturday, thousands of workers had taken to the streets demanding higher wages. During the protests, police used tear gas after some demonstrators blocked roads and threw bricks.

Workers are demanding that the current minimum monthly wage of about 12,500 taka be raised to 30,000 taka.

Babul Akhtar, the workers' representative on the board, said that if a decision is made by December, the new wage could take effect from January.

He said factory owners' representatives have also agreed to this timeline. ABM Shamsuddin, a representative of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the board would complete its work by December.

However, how much the wage will be raised has not yet been decided.

The government formed the wage board, comprising both employer and worker representatives, on Sunday.

Inflation of about 8 percent has made food, housing and transport more expensive, eroding workers' purchasing power.

Bangladesh is the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garments after China, with about 4 million people employed in the sector. The industry accounts for about 80 percent of the country's total export earnings, and the United States is its single largest market.