A Bangladeshi woman was shot dead Wednesday in the latest violent protests by garment workers after they rejected a government wage increase offer, with the victim’s husband blaming the police. The South Asian country’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top brands including Levi’s, Zara and H&M. But conditions are dire for many of the sector’s four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly pay starts at 8,300 taka ($75). A government-appointed panel raised wages on Tuesday by 56.25 percent to 12,500 taka, but striking workers demand a near-tripling of the wage to 23,000 taka. police had fired on some 400 workers calling for wage increase in the industrial city of Gazipur, outside the capital Dhaka.
— source france24.com | 08/11/2023