Dhaka, March 25 Several garment workers were injured on Tuesday during a clash with the police in Bangladesh's capital as they attempted to march towards the Secretariat from the Shrom Bhaban. The workers from multiple factories across Bangladesh had been staging a sit-in at Shrom Bhaban in Dhaka for the past three days, demanding their unpaid wages, local media reported.
The injured workers were later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment.
"Even before the workers could reach the barricade, police fired tear gas and charged with batons to disperse them. When the workers tried to regroup, police intervened again, leading to a brief chase. I personally sent seven or eight workers to the hospital, but the actual number of those injured is much higher," Sadequl Rahman Shamim, General Secretary of the Garment Workers Trade Union Centre, told Bangladeshi news outlet BDnews24.
Another leader of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Union warned that if salaries and bonuses were not paid before Eid, workers would lay siege to the Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus's office on the day of the festival. He stated that they would continue with the protests until their demands were met.
Earlier, protesting workers had held officials of Shrom Bhaban for seven hours following the death of a garment worker during a sit-in protest. The officials were later freed after assurances of a high-level government meeting.
Recently, thousands of workers staged demonstrations and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway demanding factory reopening, annual leave, due holiday payment, and bonuses. They blocked the highway for two hours halting the movement of traffic.
Last week, hundreds of workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways at the Bhogra
Similarly, workers of at least 15 garment factories in Gazipur’s Kaliakoir staged protests, blocking the Dhaka-Tangail highway over the closure of a factory and an alleged assault on workers, local media reported.
Bangladesh has the third highest percentage of low-paid workers among South Asian nations after Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) released in November 2024. Economists say this widening disparity has forced low-income and unskilled workers to reduce food consumption due to declining real incomes.
A policy brief from New York-based Cornell University in 2025 suggests that Bangladesh should annually review its wage-setting process as apparel workers in the country who are paid a minimum wage are losing income year-on-year due to current inflation rates, reported Bangladesh’s leading daily Financial Express.
Protests and strikes by workers over non-payment of dues and deteriorating working conditions have gripped the entire country since the interim government led by Yunus came to power in August 2024. Several reports have revealed that the continuous protests by the workers have led to the closure of many factories while many workers have also lost their lives or got seriously injured during protest marches.
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