BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Textile Workers go on Rampage Clash with Police
Police clashed with thousands of garment workers in southwest Bangladesh yesterday during fresh protests over low wages and soaring food prices, police said. The clashes occurred after workers at Kalurghat industrial area tried to barricade a highway, city police chief Akbar Ali said. "They smashed dozens of…
Egytex News Desk
Egytex
Unions have demanded a major increase in salaries, saying the existing basic payment fixed in late 2006 has become redundant due to rocketing prices of food and other commodities over the past year. Only a handful of factories have responded positively to the demand.
The majority of Bangladesh households spend nearly 70 percent of their income on food, and the government has moved to import more rice and sell it at subsidized prices on the open market to tame inflation.
In April, more than 50 people were injured as 20,000 garment workers clashed with police near the capital Dhaka.
Source: AFP
From the Egytex news archive, first published on 2 June 2008. Figures and names are as reported at the time.
