Millions of women in Bangladesh are making clear the unsustainability of the textile model based on Bangladesh’s low manual labour: millions of textile workers have taken to the streets of the city of Dhaka to demand higher wages.

The government announced in September last year a rise in wages in the textile sector, which as it entered in 2019 increased its minimum wage by 51% to 82.75 euros. This is the first wage increase since the Rana Plaza building sank in 2013 and more than a thousand workers sewed clothing for the multinationals died. However, the clothing union has warned that the rise affects the wages of very few workers in the textile industry. The workers have claimed a salary of EUR 166 and have been on strike for a week with this objective.

A dead man

The wage hike, which came into effect with the arrival of the new year, has been considered fraudulent and textile workers have taken the streets angry. In the disturbances leading to the strike, the police have used tear gas and rubber balls that have caused a death.

In order to interrupt the protests, the government is negotiating an increase in the interprofessional minimum wage in the Basque Country. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, following their meeting with manufacturers and trade unions on Sunday, the government announced a new salary increase for workers. However, not all trade unions have agreed to the Bureau's proposal.

What hides cheap clothes

Behind China, Bangladesh is the largest tissue manufacturer: About 3.5 million workers, mostly women, work in the textile industry. The country obtains 80% of its export earnings through the sale of international clothing.

Bangladesh’s cheap labour force enables several businessmen to sell cheap clothes in our country. The low prices offered by companies such as Inditex, H&M, Primark or Aldi have a high cost on the other side of the world.