Ashulia (Bangladesh) (AFP) – The mobilization of Bangladeshi textile workers to obtain better wages intensified on Monday in the capital Dhaka and its suburbs, where violent incidents with the police increased.
Published on: 02/11/2026 - 10:19 Modified on: 02/11/2026 - 14:35
The sector constitutes the backbone of the economy of the country, the world's second largest clothing exporter: it employs millions of people and generates the majority of the country's foreign exchange earnings.
Since last week, many of its employees have stopped working to obtain a doubling of their minimum wage, against a backdrop of high inflation - more than 8% at an annual rate in September - and the global energy crisis.
On Sunday, the government set up a committee responsible for renegotiating their salaries. Insufficient, said the angry workers, who once again took to the streets of the capital.
On Monday, hundreds of them blocked the highway linking Dhaka to Tangail, burning several vehicles. Others marched in the Mirpur district, north of the capital, where police dispersed them with tear gas, AFP journalists noted.
Clashes were also reported throughout the day in the districts of Narsinghpur, Ashulia and Narayanganj, headquarters of some of the country's largest factories.
At least 57 people have been arrested since the start of the mobilization on Saturday, police spokesperson Kamarum Munira said on Monday.
"The police fired tear gas canisters in our neighborhoods. We live there with our children but they don't care," Kamona, 24, a worker from the Ashulia district, told AFP.
“The government has granted salary increases to its agents, why not to us?” asked Mamun, 28 years old. “The prices of food, gas and electricity have increased. The government must lower them or increase them.”
"Iron Hand"
The authorities reiterated on Monday their desire to quell the unrest and restore order in the sector so that “production and exports continue”.
“We will attack all those who engage in illegal activities and plots under the cover of social movement with an iron fist,” the Minister of the Interior threatened to the press.
Salahuddin Ahmed pointed the finger at "certain factions supported by the fallen autocratic regime", an allusion to the party - the Awami League, now banned - of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pushed into exile after several weeks of riots in 2024.
The government is led by Tarique Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the big winner in the February legislative elections.
Bangladesh's main textile producers' organization warned on Monday that "prolonged unrest could disrupt production, delay exports and undermine Bangladesh's commitments to foreign buyers", according to the national news agency BSS.
“We are the ones who drive the country’s economy,” a worker, Sharmin, 24, reminded AFP, “we must be heard.”
The average salary of textile workers is currently estimated at 13,000 takas (94 euros) per month, according to Kalpona Akter, an official at the Bangladesh Workers Solidarity Center.
“This time we are asking for a little more than 30,000 takas,” he told AFP.
The approximately 4,000 factories across Bangladesh produce clothing, including T-shirts, jeans and sweaters, for major retailers in Europe and the United States.
© 2026 AFP
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