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Garment employees' demonstrations leave one dead in Bangladesh

A garment worker was shot dead and a minimum of 20 others were hurt on Monday in a violent clash between protesting workers and cops in Bangladesh, forcing the closures of a number of factories.

The discontent emerged after numerous garment employees obstructed a significant highway, demanding higher wages and improved working conditions, in Ashulia, on the borders of Dhaka, authorities stated.

Upset employees hurled bricks at police lorries, hurting policemans, a regional authorities official stated.

Bangladesh, among the world's largest clothes production hubs, has been grappling with prevalent demonstrations in current weeks, resulting in the closure of lots of factories.

This has even more worsened an existing production backlog triggered by political turmoil and recent floods, market insiders said.

Garment market leaders have prompted the government to reinforce security measures to ensure their production systems can continue operating in the middle of ongoing labour unrest, regardless of having dealt with the majority of the employees' demands.

We are calling for boosted precaution, as the factories stay susceptible due to the discontent, said Abdullah Hil Rakib, senior vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Without appropriate security, the factories will continue to face disruptions.

The federal government has actually formed a committee to attend to the employees' problems. Nevertheless, labour leaders stressed the need for more factory-specific conversations.

Some factory owners and management lack genuineness in resolving the problems. In those cases, factory-based talks might aid, stated Babul Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation.

The chaos comes as Bangladesh's interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has actually taken charge, tasked with bring back stability and organising parliamentary elections.

The interim administration follows the deadliest violence the country has seen since its self-reliance in 1971, which claimed over 700 lives and caused the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who got away to India in early August.

Bangladesh's ready-made garment market, which provides much of the world's leading style brand names, represent over 80% of the country's export earnings.

The nation was ranked the third-largest exporter of clothing internationally in 2015, after China and the European Union, exporting $38.4 billion worth of garments in 2023, according to the World Trade Company.

Garment factory owners expressed issue over the effect of the unrest on production schedules.

Some orders have actually currently been diverted to other countries due to the instability, one stated.

(source: Reuters)