Factories ablaze as Bangladesh garment workers protest

Angry Bangladeshi garment workers blocked roads, set factories alight and clashed with police for a third day on Monday as protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of $100 spread outside the capital Dhaka.

Abdul Baten, police chief of the Gazipur industrial district near Dhaka which is home to hundreds of factories, told AFP that "up to 200,000 workers" had joined the latest demonstrations.

His deputy Mustafizur Rahman said about 300 factories, which make clothing for top Western retailers such as Walmart, were shut on Monday to contain the violence as protesting workers attacked plants that stayed open.

"The situation is extremely volatile. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the unruly workers," he told AFP, adding dozens of workers and several policemen were injured.

Manufacturers said Monday's protests were some of the worst in the sector since 2010 when months of demonstrations forced the government and factory owners to agree to a minimum monthly wage of 3,000 taka ($38).

Bangladeshi textile workers are among the worst paid in the sector worldwide, and often toil for 80 hours a week in factories which are vulnerable to fires and other accidents.

Protests over poor wages, benefits and working conditions are frequent but have gained in intensity since April when a factory complex collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people in one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

In Savar, where April's accident occurred, more than a dozen factories were shut down as protesters clashed with police, leaving around 20 people injured, said the deputy chief of Dhaka police Shyamal Mukherjee.

"Workers attacked our factories and set ablaze at least two plants. Hundreds of factories were forced to shut down," said Reaz-Bin-Mahmood, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association which represents 4,500 factories.

The impoverished South Asian country is the world's second-largest garment exporter with apparel shipments accounting for 80 percent of its $27 billion annual exports.

In June this year the government set up a panel to review salaries and unions have demanded an 8,114 taka ($100) minimum monthly wage.

Factory owners have rejected the demand, saying they can raise wages by only 20 percent to 3,600 taka due to gloomy global economic conditions.

Widespread protests seeking wage rises in 2006 and 2010 led to deadly clashes, leaving dozens of workers dead and hundreds of factories vandalised.

[Image via AFP]