DHAKA: Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi textile workers demanding
better pay torched four more factories on Tuesday, the second day of
violent demonstrations that spread to the capital Dhaka, officials
said.
Some 50,000 protesters armed with bamboo sticks and chanting slogans
burnt garment factories at Ashulia north of the capital as police
fired tear gas and used batons to disperse them, local police Chief
Jamiruddin Ahmed said.
Dhaka fire brigade deputy director Selim Newaz Bhuiyan said four
garment factories were set on fire in Ashulia.
"The workers occupied streets in Savar and Ashulia industrial towns
for hours," Ahmed said, adding that workers also torched vehicles and
ransacked another factory. “But things have now improved,” Ahmed said.
Witnesses said several people were hurt when officers fired live
ammunition. Police, however, said they used only batons and tear gas.
In the capital, more than 10,000 workers from Dhaka’s Tejgaon
industrial area and from the Mirpur, Uttara and Wari districts poured
into the streets demanding better pay, overtime and a mandatory
weekly holiday.
The workers, including barefoot women, clashed with police, smashed
dozens of cars and stormed several factories before blocking major
roads and bringing city traffic to a virtual halt, the Dhaka police
control room said.
"At least 10,000 garment workers demonstrated in the city’s Kafrul
area. They ransacked several factories, broke vehicles and put
blockades on the road," duty police officer Kafrul area Mizanur
Rahman said. The situation was under control but extremely tense, he
added.
More than 1,500 workers stormed factories in the capital’s Tejgaon
industrial area and 2,000 more vandalised a garment factory in
Abdullahpur, police said.
Security forces opened fire on Monday, killing one protester among a
crowd estimated at 100,000 from Dhaka’s Export Processing Zone, and
nearby Ashulia.
A senior police official said Monday’s protests saw at least 30
factories ransacked and dozens of vehicles smashed. Police rescued a
factory owner from the mob.
Last week police firing also left a textile worker dead and 50 others
injured at Sripur north of Dhaka, where workers also sought higher
wages.
The workers are demanding at least 11 taka (16 cents) for every
sweater they sew, a mandatory day off Friday, regular payment and a
raise for overtime. They now earn about seven taka per sweater.
Union leaders said the protests came as no surprise. "A garment
worker earns 2,000 taka a month for working around 12 hours a day.
They pass months without holidays and some factories don’t even pay
them regularly," said Nazma Akhter, head of the United Garments
Workers Federation. "Now with the huge increase of prices of food
items and other essential products, they’ve demanded pay rises," she
said.
Manufacturers said they suspected an “international conspiracy”
behind the demonstrations. "We’ve been growing at 20 percent despite
doomsday predictions. This has made our competitors jealous and
they’re out to destroy us," said Abdus Salam Murshedi, acting head of
the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Bangladesh has over 4,200 garment factories which employ 40 percent
of all industrial workers and are enjoying a boom following an end to
global textile quotas.
The industry last year accounted for over three-quarters of export
earnings of 9.3 billion dollars.