Garment workers staged protests for a second consecutive day in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Sunday, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be increased to Tk30,000, leading to major traffic disruptions and repeated clashes with law enforcement authorities.
The demonstrations spread across Mirpur-10, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-12, and adjacent areas, where thousands of workers occupied key roads from the morning, disrupting traffic and daily activities in one of the capital’s busiest districts.
As tensions escalated, police moved to disperse the protesters and reopen the blocked roads. Authorities deployed water cannons, tear gas, and sound grenades, triggering a series of confrontations, chases, and counter-chases between workers and security personnel.
Pallabi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Jalal Uddin said workers had been demonstrating in several parts of Mirpur since the morning and that additional police members had been deployed to restore order.
According to police, efforts were ongoing throughout the day to clear the affected roads and bring the situation under control as traffic congestion continued to affect commuters and public transport services.
The latest unrest comes amid ongoing demands from garment workers for a significant wage increase, with protesters arguing that rising living costs have made the current wage structure insufficient to support workers and their families.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour has already established a minimum wage board to review and determine wage structures for garment sector employees. Despite the move, workers have continued their demonstrations, insisting that the new minimum monthly salary be fixed at Tk30,000.
The garment industry remains Bangladesh’s largest export-earning sector and employs millions of workers nationwide. As negotiations over wages continue, labour unrest and demonstrations are expected to remain a major issue for both industry stakeholders and policymakers.
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