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DHAKA : Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers blocked highways, attacked factories and looted shops in Dhaka on Friday, police said, after rejecting the terms of a government wage hike.
An estimated 5,000 workers, who stitch clothes for leading Western brands, blocked the city's main Tejgaon link road and attacked dozens of nearby garment factories with rocks, police sub inspector Abdul Quddul told AFP.
At least 5,000 more workers protested in Dhaka's up-market Gulshan area where many embassies and foreign aid groups have their offices.
On Tuesday, the government said it would raise the minimum wage for garment workers from 1,662 taka -- the lowest industry salary worldwide -- to 3,000 taka (43 dollars). Some unions had demanded 5,000 taka.
"They are ransacking factories, burning cars, blocking roads," Gulshan police chief Nural Alam told AFP.
Alam said some protestors had targetted the area's high-end shops, looting the contents and then setting fire to the buildings.
Hundreds of riot police have been deployed, he said, adding that officers had used baton charges and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds.
Another protest broke out in the city's Mohakhali area, where thousands of workers blocked a major fly-over.
"The workers' emotion is running very high," said Mosherafa Mishu, head of the Garment Workers Unity Forum, which has rejected the proposed wage hike.
"The government has just done what the garment factory owners want -- this offer is not acceptable to workers," Mishu told AFP.
"They are frustrated, they feel let down by the government -- they thought they would get a good salary and then are just offered nothing," she added.
Mishu warned that unless a better offer was forthcoming, workers would strike and organise "a militant movement" to protest pay and conditions.
Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament that garment workers' salaries were "inhuman" and said manufacturers should share profits with the industry's 3.5 million workforce.
The garment sector accounted for more than 80 percent of Bangladesh's exports last year.
Although the larger unions promised to accept the wage hike -- to be implemented on November 1 -- a string of smaller labour groups turned it down.
The government offer followed months of street protests that had repeatedly turned violent.
On June 22, hundreds of thousands of workers closed the key Ashulia export area, which produces for brands such as Wal-Mart, H & M and Marks & Spencer, a major blow for an industry aiming to steal contracts from Chinese competitors.
- AFP/vm
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