A wave of labour unrest over demands for a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 has disrupted operations across several of Bangladesh’s major garment-manufacturing hubs, forcing 670 factories to suspend production. The disruption has affected millions of workers, with 1,680,572 employees leaving their workplaces and returning home without carrying out their scheduled work.
According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the situation has been particularly severe in three major industrial zones: Mirpur in the capital, Gazipur-Mymensingh, and Savar-Ashulia-Jirani. Workers in a number of factories stopped working and left their workplaces as tensions over wages intensified, resulting in widespread production stoppages.
The figures were provided by the BGMEA on Monday (2 November). According to the association’s assessment at 11.30 am, a total of 2,134 garment factories were operating across five major industrial zones in the country. Of these, 1,464 remained open, while 670 had suspended operations amid the unrest.
Gazipur and Mymensingh recorded the largest impact. Of the 836 garment factories in these two areas, workers in 382 stopped working and left their workplaces. As a result, 883,472 workers returned home without completing their scheduled shifts. The scale of the disruption in these industrial zones highlights the extent to which wage-related tensions have affected production activities in the country’s garment sector.
The situation was also serious in Savar, Ashulia and Jirani, where 223 of the 441 garment factories were unable to continue operations. A total of 743,650 workers left without working, making this another major centre of disruption.
In Mirpur, the unrest affected a smaller but still significant number of factories. Of the 320 garment factories in the area, 65 suspended their operations. Consequently, 53,450 workers returned home without being able to work.
However, the disruption did not extend to all major garment-producing areas. According to the BGMEA, factories in Narayanganj and Chattogram continued operating normally, with no reported impact from the labour unrest. All 197 factories in Narayanganj and 314 in Chattogram remained open, bringing the total number of operational factories in these two industrial zones to 511.
The demand for a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 has brought renewed attention to the longstanding issue of workers’ earnings and living costs in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Wages remain a central concern for workers, particularly given the rising costs of essential goods and household expenses. At the same time, factory owners face the challenge of maintaining production, meeting international orders and managing operational costs in a highly competitive export market.
Bangladesh’s ready-made garment industry is one of the country’s most important sources of export earnings and provides employment to millions of people. Any prolonged disruption to production can therefore have consequences beyond individual factories, potentially affecting supply schedules, business operations and workers’ livelihoods.
The latest figures underline the scale of the immediate disruption. By 11.30 am on Monday, 670 factories had suspended operations across the affected industrial zones, while more than 16.8 lakh workers had returned home without working. The situation in the coming days will depend on whether the wage-related grievances can be addressed and normal working conditions restored across the affected areas.
