Tough enough! Bangladesh severely punished workers for strikes and 7,000 people were laid off
Kalpona Akter, representative of the Bangladesh Workers'Solidarity Center, said earlier this month that at least 5,000 workers had been laid off so far, but the actual number could reach 7,000.
Not only did Bangladesh's shoe and apparel workers fail to raise the minimum wage through strikes, but nearly 7,000 strikers were laid off by factories.
Workers strike! 7000 people were fired < br />.
Bangladesh's police and trade union leaders said recently that after more than a week of strikes and conflicts over wage disputes, Bangladeshi garment factories, which work for Western brands, have expelled hundreds of workers.
According to Agence France-Presse, Bangladesh's garment industry is worth 30 billion US dollars, the world's second largest after China, with about 4500 garment factories employing about 4 million workers to replace Hennes & amp; Mauritz, H& M, Walmart and other brands as the global retail giant.
In September last year, Bangladesh said it would raise the minimum monthly wage of garment workers from 5,300 to 8,000, or about 95 dollars (642 yuan), from $63 in 2019, but this dissatisfied the industry, which wanted to raise the minimum monthly wage to 16,000, or about 191 dollars (1290 yuan).
Bangladeshi garment factory owners say they are also under pressure from global brands to control costs.
Thousands of disgruntled low-wage workers protested earlier this month, causing dozens of garment factories to shut down. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protestors in a major town outside the capital Dhaka last week, killing more than 50 people and injuring one person.
After the government agreed to raise salaries, the massive protests subsided this week, but many people returned to work today and found that they had been fired.
Kazi Ruhul Amin, head of the Bangladesh Garment Workers'Union Center, said earlier this month that workers who shouted slogans to leave factories, join marches demanding higher wages, and those associated with the organization are now losing their jobs.
Kalpona Akter, representative of the Bangladesh Workers'Solidarity Center, said Thursday that the group was strongly informed that at least 5,000 workers had been laid off so far, but the actual number could reach 7,000.
Punishment of workers'strikes
A senior union leader said at least 750 employees employed by several garment factories in Ashulia, a major garment industry town, had found a notice of dismissal with their big picture posted on the front door of the factory.
H& M parent company Hennes & amp; Mauritz AB (HM-b.ST) Haines Morris Group said it was deeply concerned about recent events in Bangladesh's textile industry and affirmed workers'freedom to protest. Spanish and American brands Mango and Guess and Saks declined to comment. Inditex SA (ITX.MC), the parent company of Zara, said the three factories that fired workers were not. The company's supplier.
The unnamed trade union leader said: "It's unfair. The boss creates a chilling cicada effect, so no one dares to fight or ask for a reasonable salary.
Police and factory managers say they have not fired so many people, about 400, because they destroyed plant equipment during the strike, more than half of them at Metro Knitting and Dyeing in Asuria.
Atiqul Islam, general manager of the Metropolitan Knitting and Dyeing Plant, told AFP that the company notified the police about 300 workers and smashed the plant monitors and computers.
He said, "About 10,000 ready-made garments for export have also disappeared.
Local police say 12 people have been arrested so far for vandalism during the protests.
Major retailers in the world, including Zara, Uniqlo Uniqlo, H& Inditex SA (ITX.MC), Indy Textile Group, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. (9983.T), Fast Marketing Group, Hennes & amp; Mauritz AB (HM-b.ST) Haines Morris Group and Gap Inc. (GPS.N) Gap Group, import a large number of clothing from Bangladesh. According to WTO data, Bangladesh's garment exports accounted for 6.3% of the market in 2016, second only to China, which accounted for 34.5% of the absolute monopoly.
