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September 23, 2013

Bangladeshi Garment Workers Rally for Higher Pay 
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An estimated 50,000 garment workers rallied in Bangladesh on Saturday in
their largest protest to date. The workers are seeking a pay increase
from their current $38 a month to $103. The head of the garment workers
union, Nazma Akhtar, spoke out in Dakha.

Nazma Akhtar: "Today we are demanding 8,000 taka for the garment workers
minimum wage. As you all know, the garments workers are earning 77
percent foreign currency in this country from the women workers, but our
salary is very low, they are getting three thousand taka. Now we are
demanding 8000 taka minimum wage for the garments workers."

Bangladesh last raised its minimum wage for garment workers in 2010. The
country's garment industry has come under heightened scrutiny in the
aftermath of the factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 garment
workers in April and a fire that killed 112 last November.

 

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