DHAKA — Bangladesh's garment factories reopened on Monday after widespread closures and production disruptions a day earlier, but manufacturers remain concerned about further unrest over workers' demands for higher wages, Reuters reported. The reopening follows the weekend Awaaz Punjab reported on Saturday and Sunday: protests that first shut factories in Ashulia, and then Dhaka's formation on Sunday of a six-member minimum wage board amid tear gas and water cannon in the capital.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2

Workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka ($243), up from 12,500 taka — yaani more than double the current rate. The demand reflects mounting pressure from rising living costs and persistent inflation. The government formed the six-member wage board on Sunday to review the demand, but the move failed to immediately quell unrest: workers set up road blockades in several industrial areas on Sunday, with police in Dhaka using tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2

529 factoriesOperations disrupted by demonstrations in multiple cities, the BGMEA said
Nearly 1 million workersWorkers affected by the disruption — yaani about 10 lakh people, roughly a quarter of the sector's workforce
30,000 taka ($243)The minimum monthly wage workers are demanding, up from 12,500 taka
4 million workersEmployed in a sector that earns over 80% of Bangladesh's export income and about 10% of GDP

'No work, no pay' warning if shutdowns return

"The government has already taken a step by forming the wage board. We expect workers to allow the review process to proceed," said Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). "If protests break out later in the day and we are forced to shut factories, we will have no option but to invoke the 'no work, no pay' provision," he said, adding that industry representatives were scheduled to meet the home minister.

Source: BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan, via Reuters, Nov 2

"Bangladesh has among the lowest garment wages in the world," said Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation and a workers' representative on the wage board. Factory owners said the industry already faces higher costs, energy-market uncertainty linked to the conflict in the Middle East and slowing demand in key export markets — in the world's second-largest apparel exporter after China, where any prolonged stoppage quickly reaches buyer confidence and export shipments.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2

What happens next: Monday's reopening holds only if the wage board's review is seen to move. The board must now weigh the 30,000-taka demand against owners who say costs are already rising — and both sides have set out their fallback positions, workers with road blockades and owners with 'no work, no pay', before the review has produced a number.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2