"Labor Rights Groups Call for ‘Indefinite’ Strike in Bangladesh", 28 December 2023

A consortium of Bangladeshi labor rights organizations has threatened to rally the country’s garment workers in an “indefinite” strike come Jan. 1 if demands such as the release of arrested protestors and a higher minimum wage are not met, stoking fears of further mayhem during an already politically turbulent time.

“Four workers were martyred in the recent RMG workers’ unrest, but there is still no investigation,” Aam Fayez Hossain, chief coordinator at the Sammilita Sramik Parishad, told the Business Post on Sunday. “Besides, cases have been filed against hundreds of workers, and they are on the run to avoid arrest. The workers have rights to justice, and we are fighting to resolve these issues.”

The new minimum wage of 12,500 Bangladeshi taka ($114), which went into effect at the start of December, falling far short of the 23,000 taka ($210) workers were asking for, is “insufficient to lead a decent life,” Hossain said, adding that he believed that workers will “respond to our program.” To date, 19 workers’ rights groups and federations have “expressed solidarity” for the plan, he added...

The anti-government demonstrations that have broken out on the streets of Gazipur and Dhaka have been confusingly intertwined with the minimum wage protests that erupted almost concurrently, making it difficult to ascertain, at first blush, the affiliations of perpetrators of vandalism or assault. Further pandemonium leading to factory closures or stalled production in the new year could result in even harder questions being asked of the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China...

Facing pressure from U.S. lawmakers and the American Apparel & Footwear Association, among others, both the BGMEA and its knitwear counterpart, the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BKMEA, have told its members to drop their complaints against protestors not involved in serious crimes.

“We have asked the owners to withdraw the cases against agitating workers who did not commit vandalism,” Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice president at the BKMEA, told the Business Post. “And if possible, the owners should pay the full November salary to innocent workers despite announcement[s] about salary cut[s].”

In a recent letter to brands and retailers, Faruque Hassan, president of the BGMEA, struck a hopeful posture for 2024, noting that with U.S. holiday spending projected to hit record levels, “this positive vibe brings the hope of a better and prosperous year ahead.”

As he has done previously, Hassan exhorted buyers to help suppliers fulfill the new minimum wage by maintaining long-term sourcing relationships and increasing their purchasing prices.

“We are also in support of better living of the workers in principle—in fact, many of our factories provide a great number of non-wage and non-legally binding benefits to the workers—and we feel happy when our workers are happy, but we need a price that enables us to sustain a wage level,” he said.