The Guardian — A Bangladeshi woman was shot dead last week after police in Dhaka opened fire during a protest held by garment workers demanding a wage increase.
Anjuara Khatun, a 26-year-old machine operator at Islam Garments, was on her way home after the factory closed suddenly as a large group of protesters gathered nearby. Her husband told reporters he heard gunshots when police opened fire on about 400 workers and then saw people carrying his wife’s motionless body.
Khatun is the third garment worker to be killed in the past two weeks, with hundreds of others badly injured, during clashes that have broken out in key production hubs in the capital, Dhaka, including Ashulia, Gazipur and Savar.
The minimum-wage-setting process for garment workers had been going on in Bangladesh since April 2023, but fresh violence broke out this week after the government’s announcement of a monthly wage increase to just 12,500 taka (£92), which workers and rights groups deemed inadequate – and is half of what the workers are asking for.
Global fashion brands must speak out. What use is all their talk of female empowerment when the women who make their clothes are being murdered on the streets? -Nazma Akhter, trade unionist
Akhter also urged the Bangladesh government to ensure that a new wage provides equitable compensation and meets the needs of workers and their families. The majority of garment workers are women and along with low wages they experience long hours, dangerous working conditions and sexual violence on the job.