Workers in Bangladesh held demonstrations on Sunday in Gazipur and the capital Dhaka, demanding an increase in the minimum wage. In Gazipur, workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, insisting on a monthly salary of at least 30,000 Taka, which is approximately 23,000 rupees.
During the protests, the government announced the creation of a new minimum wage council. Local media reported that in Gazipur, workers took to the highway with slogans, and employees arrived at many sections of the highway, including Safipur Bazar, Chandra Palli Bidhyut, Mauchak, and Telichala, armed with batons. Workers from neighboring factories joined the action after registering at their workplaces in the morning.
During the demonstrations in the Konbari area, a police box located in the middle of the Dhaka-Tangail highway was set on fire. The incident was provided by the head of the Konbari police station, Iftehar Hossain. Five platoons of the Bangladesh Coast Guard (BGB) were deployed to stabilize the situation.
Similar actions also took place in Dhaka, where textile industry workers blocked the Mirpur-10 intersection. Employees arrived from various areas of Mirpur on Sunday morning and blocked the intersection, leading to the closure of the Mirpur-10 metro station gates. Police were dispatched to the scene.
Bangladesh's textile industry comprises about 4,000 registered factories employing over 4 million people. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the country is the second-largest textile exporter in the world after China. In the fiscal year 2025-26, textile exports from Bangladesh amounted to $38.70 billion, with products sent to over 150 countries.
Meanwhile, Minister of Labour and Employment Ariful Haque Chowdhury called on protesting workers to return to work. During a press conference at his secretariat, he stated that the government is considering the workers' demands 'with the utmost seriousness.' He announced that a new minimum wage council has been established in response to workers' requests and expressed hope that workers would now leave the streets and return to their factories.
Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman, a senior district and session judge, will serve as the chairman of the new minimum wage council. Employer representatives on the council include ABM Shamsuddin, Director of BGMEA, and Asif Ayub, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Employers' Association. Worker representatives include Babul Akter, General Secretary of BGIWF, and Anwar Hossain, Chairman of the Bangladesh Ethnic Workers' Party. Professor Mosleh Uddin Ahmed from the Faculty of Public Administration at Dhaka University has been appointed as an independent representative of the council. Babul Akter noted that he received information about the establishment of the wage council and hopes that the government will soon begin its work.