Garment factories numbering in the hundreds closed across Bangladesh on Thursday as workers walked off the job in a dispute over minimum monthly pay, CNBC Indonesia reported.
The strike hits an industry worth US$38 miliar (Rp684 triliun) per year, generating four-fifths of the nation’s export revenue while employing more than four million people in a country of 170 juta jiwa.
Police blocked demonstrators who attempted to march from factory floors into the streets of the key industrial zones of Gazipur, Ashulia, and Savar, according to AFP reporting cited by CNBC Indonesia.
“I think demonstrations won’t ease soon, and they will continue until the wage board gives a revised wage that is acceptable,” Khanam, a garment worker, told CNBC Indonesia.
Laborers Demand 140 Percent Minimum Wage Increase
Laborers demand a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka, equivalent to US$240, which marks a 140 percent increase from the current baseline of 12,500 taka.
A wage board reached an agreement on November 4, 2026, to raise the minimum compensation following days of street protests.
That agreement promised an official announcement in December and an effective start date in January, leaving workers uncertain about the timing and size of their pay hikes.
Factory Owner Responses
Factory owners represented by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association held an emergency meeting on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, to weigh a strict no-work, no-pay policy.
“Wage board negotiations and factory riots cannot happen simultaneously,” Mahmudul Hasan, president of the BGMEA, told the local newspaper Prothom Alo.
Association members operate 4,500 facilities that supply major international fashion brands, making Bangladesh the world’s second-largest garment exporter behind China.
Supply Chain Impact
Mohiuddin Rubel, a former director of the BGMEA, warned that prolonged turmoil threatens the global credibility of the nation’s manufacturing sector.
“This disruption hurts everyone. Businesses lose money, workers lose workdays, the economy takes a hit, and the damage is hard to repair,” Rubel said.
Uncertainty remains over whether the wage board will accelerate its announcement schedule to satisfy protesters before additional manufacturing facilities shut down.
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