Bangladesh garment workers protest for higher wages as hundreds of factories shut

Now the news. Police are gearing up for another day of protests in Bangladesh after thousands of factory workers took to the streets of Dhaka on Sunday. They're calling for higher wages as the cost of living soars. The unrest disrupted major industrial areas around the capital, putting pressure on the sector that drives the country's economy and employs millions. Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury joins us live from Dhaka. Tanvir, firstly, what is the latest on the demonstrations and factory shutdowns across... Dhaka's industrial belts. Yes, we are currently at the Mirpur industrial area just within the capital city. There was a protest here earlier, but it was dispersed by the police, but we're getting confirmed reports of heavy protests in Ashulia, Savar and Gazipur industrial area. Those are farther from the capital city, outskirts of the city, and there's been vandalism, How do you see them? cars and vehicles were destroyed. At least more than 500 garments factories have shut down down temporarily to to avoid any kind of incidents. Now, what we know so far, that the protest is going on still despite the fact that there is a wage board government has promised to negotiate the demand of the workers. But the protest continues. You can see a lot of security presence behind me and other parts of the industrial areas. The government has deployed paramilitary Bangladesh border guards in the industrial areas to calm the situation and to preserve law and order. So far, that's what we know as far as the protest goes in the industrial area. Tanvir, as you say, I mean, the government has responded by saying that they will look into the wage structure of workers in the country. But clearly, judging by the numbers on the street, that hasn't gone down particularly well. They're not responding very well to appeals to return to work. Yes, and this is one of the major protests since this government took over after an election in February. They haven't faced any major protests. The government is also blaming external elements who have taken part in this protest, essentially blaming the last government's party members, Awami League, for some of the incident to create unrest in the country. Now there was an emergency cabinet meeting headed by the prime minister last evening. And they want to resolve this crisis as soon as possible, as this is a peak season. As it is, the garment industry is facing severe energy crisis due to the war in Middle East, as well as the workers' protests in a peak season. So this is a very critical situation, and they have to compete against Cambodia, India, as well as Vietnam to lower the prices because the buyers keep Demanding lower prices and at the same time they have to increase wages, so they're in a catch-22 situation. As far as we know, the negotiation is going on between the wage board created by the government and the government's workers' unions. Until and unless a middle ground is found for the wages the workers are demanding, which is more than double than what was previously they were given, the protest is likely to continue until their demands are met. Tanvir Chowdhury in Dhaka. Thank you, Tanvir. Let's stay with this story and introduce Takbir Huda, who's a senior fellow with the Tech Global Institute at the University of Oxford and a human rights lawyer. He joins us live from Oxford in the United Kingdom. Takbir, welcome to the programme. So as we were just discussing there, the Bangladeshi government has responded, hasn't it, to these protests by forming what they're describing as a wage board or to review salaries. And they've also warned that these continuing protests could essentially backfire on the broader economy if they go on any longer. Nevertheless, the anger continues, doesn't it? From your legal and human rights perspective, why is this administrative response from the government failing to diffuse all the anger on the ground? Thank you. So firstly, the government was due by law that it introduced earlier this year to introduce this wage board. So the workers initially started protesting because there was no signs of that wage board being formed. So it is only after they protested that this minimum step was implemented. And history gives very little reason to workers to believe that that anything will improve unless they protest. So on a minimum wage board being... being established does not sort of meet in and of itself their underlying demand which is you know and increasing their minimum wage in line with you know the massive rates of inflation and the cost of living crisis. I'm keen to get into the minds of The industry itself as well, the owners of the factories and exporters and so on and so forth, because the sector employs around 4 million workers, more than half are women. It drives about 80% of national export revenue. Workers want to jump, just to clarify for our viewers, from around $100 to $245 a month. Why is this request seen as an existential threat to the industry instead of a basic cost of human dignity? The reason is because for the longest time and since the industry has operated, the one sort of party that could make this change possible has held the most extractive and exploitative role. And by that, I mean the Western buyer brands who hold the lion's share of the value that is generated by the clothes that. these workers produced. So if you look at it, I mean, of course, upon first glance, it seems like more than double than what they've asked. And it might seem economically unfeasible. And that's what garment owners will tell you, that this will drive us out of business. We will lose buyers. But the question is, why do buyers who can actually afford to sort of give, ensure workers this minimum or, you know, living wage, why do they continue to be the ones who extract such high levels of value without assuming any of the human rights or due diligence obligations. So it's an easy fix, but the problem is that we never discuss, or the Bangladeshi government certainly does not have jurisdiction or regulatory authority over the most consequential actor in this equation, which is the Western buyer brands. Well, let's focus on that because, as you say, local factory owners essentially say that they're caught in the grip of international fast fashion that are essentially enforcing unrealistic pricing on their goods, on their garments. I mean, that sounds like a pretty fair argument by the industry to make. Given the pressure that they're facing from these Western sellers of these goods. But what obligation then does the Western world, does fast fashion companies have when it comes to alleviating the strains of workers there in Bangladesh? The obligations are simple. They've gotten used to a business model where they sort of extract incredible levels of value from Global South while workers work on a pittance. So if they only make some sort of concession on each unit price that they, you know, pay for each garment, this is quite possibly, this is an overnight fix. But the problem is that they They push impossible margins on Bangladeshi garment owners who then push that cost down on workers and then the workers, because they are at the lowest end of the food chain, have no one else to pass it on to. And that is why they are compelled to take to the streets. But here, you know, you might want to also point to, you know, sort of exploitative practices by Western governments as well. You know, the U.S. sort of threatening Bangladesh and other countries with, you know, these These large sums of tariffs, which its own Supreme Courts have subsequently found to be unlawful, but the one-sided trade agreement that Bangladesh was forced to sign with the U.S. is still in existence as a result of those threats. Takbir, really important to hear your thoughts on all of this. It's been really helpful to understanding this issue in greater detail. Takbir Huda, Senior Fellow at the Tech Global Institute at the University of Oxford. Many thanks.