Dhaka: Bangladesh has decided to review a newly-introduced wage structure for apparel sector workers after the death toll — caused by factory violence in southeastern city of Chittagong — rose to four overnight, officials and reports said here on Monday.
"There could be some disparities when a new wage structure is introduced... let the government know it so the discrimination could be removed through discussion," Labour Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hussain told reporters on Sunday.
His comments came as senior factory workers said the new wage structures benefited only junior workers while they remained underpaid.
The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) leaders said there was little scope to review the wage structure.
Home Minister Sahara Khatun, however, said that the unrest, which sparked violence in industrial zones across the country, including capital Dhaka — after it originated from Chittagong — was part of a bigger conspiracy to create instability.
Demonstrations
Thousands of garment workers, who stitch clothes for leading western brands, blocked roads and factories in Bangladesh yesterday as demonstrations against low wages continued to spread.
Police said about 5,000 garment workers staged a sit-in in the northern manufacturing district of Gazipur, while another 5,000 refused to work at a factory inside the Ashulia export zone, 40 kilometres northwest of Dhaka.
The workers, four of whom died on Sunday after police opened fire, were demanding the implementation of a hike in the minimum wage, approved by the government and industry in July.
"They have blocked the main highway linking Dhaka to the north of the country," Khandaker Shafiqul Alam, police inspector at Gazipur, said.
"The protests are led by senior workers who are frustrated that they have lost out under the new wage scheme," he said, referring to the new minimum wage plan which was meant to come into force in December.
