Bangladesh: Garment worker injured in minimum wage protests contemplates sending 12-year old son to work to support family
"Ahead of Black Friday, Support Zoya and Other Bangladesh Garment Workers", 23 November 2023
Zoya S. (not her real name), is a garment worker...making clothes for global clothing brands..
On November 6...Bangladesh authorities raised garment workers’ minimum wages in the country from 8,000 taka (US$72.5) a month to 12,500 taka (US$113) per month, which doesn’t come close to a living wage, and is well below workers’ demand for 23,000 taka (US$208).
Zoya joined thousands in protest. Police brutally cracked down, several workers were killed, and others arrested or detained. Labor organizers came under heightened surveillance and thugs attacked workers...
Zoya was injured during the protests and is at home, recovering. Her doctor expects her to take a month to recover. The prospect of another month without work, coupled with medical bills, has added to her financial woes.
The family had already sent their 12 year old son back to the village to live with Zoya’s mother since they couldn’t afford the mounting school bills in Dhaka. To support her son’s care and schooling in the village, Zoya sends money every month to her mother...Although primary education is supposed to be free in Bangladesh, in practice her mother has to pay.
Now, Zoya is being forced to contemplate an even more desperate measure : “I think we have to send my son to work to support the family.”...
“...When I became a mother, I always wanted my son to be educated like the people in the city I see every day.”...
All brands sourcing from Bangladesh should increase the prices they pay their suppliers, coupled with shoring up wage transparency to ensure workers earn at least 23,000 taka per month without overtime or piece-rate work.