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Bangladesh Raises Minimum Wage for Garment Workers

   VOA News 27 July 2010
   Bangladesh's  garments  workers  march  through  the streets to demand
   higher wages in Dhaka

Photo: AP

   Bangladesh's  garments  workers  march  through  the streets to demand
   higher  wages  in  Dhaka,  23  July  2010. Bangladesh's Prime Minister
   Sheikh  Hasina  has  blasted  the  garment industry, a mainstay of the
   impoverished country's economy, for paying inhumanly low wages.

   Bangladesh  has  raised  the  minimum  wage  for  its garment industry
   workers  following  months  of  violent protests over low salaries and
   poor working conditions. The 80-percent pay hike was announced Tuesday
   following an emergency meeting of the country's wage board committee.
   The  increase raised the minimum monthly wage for garment workers from
   $25 to $43.
   Bangladesh  has  been the scene of massive protests by textile workers
   calling  for  higher  pay.   Workers  were demanding that the minimum
   salary be increased to $72 a month.
   Textile  factories  accounted  for  80  percent of Bangladesh's annual
   export  earnings  last  year,  with many producing clothes for several
   global brands.
   Prime  Minister  Sheikh  Hasina  had criticized the country's clothing
   manufacturers   saying  the  wages  were  not  only  insufficient  but
   "inhuman."

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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