Bangladesh garment workers stage fourth day of wage protests

Garment workers in Bangladesh staged a fourth day of wage protests on Tuesday, with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators as unrest disrupted factory operations and transport links in the country’s vital export sector. The unrest, which began on Saturday, has intensified despite the government’s move to form a six-member wage board to review pay in Bangladesh’s garment sector, the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China. It comes at a critical time for manufacturers entering the peak production season for spring and summer export orders. The industry employs about 4 million workers, supplies global brands such as H&M, Zara and Gap, and accounts for more than 80 per cent of the country’s export earnings.

Clashes were reported across industrial belts around Dhaka, including Ashulia, Gazipur and the capital’s Mirpur area, as workers staged fresh demonstrations and attempted to block major highways. Dozens of people, including several police officers, were injured in the clashes. H&M assessing any potential impact In Ashulia, police fired tear gas and sound grenades after protesters threw bricks and stones at law enforcement personnel, said Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police. Similar crowd-control measures were used in Dhaka’s Mirpur area, police said. Additional security forces were deployed to contain the unrest, police said. Several factories in Gazipur and Ashulia again suspended operations or declared holidays after nearly 700 factories shut a day earlier. A shattered window is seen on the facade of a garment factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 3, 2026, after workers threw stones during protests demanding higher minimum wages. — AFP “There are no major disruptions in our supply chain with…