More than 500 garment factories near Dhaka have shut after protests that began on 31 October 2026. Workers want a minimum wage of 30,000 taka (about $242) a month. The current minimum is 12,500 taka (about $101), unchanged since December 2023, so the demand is 2.4 times higher. How much of that gap reaches the shop price of a garment depends mostly on who pays for it.
On 1 November the government set up a six-member wage board. The protests continued, and on 2 November, the third day, factories shut in Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur. Figures for the closures vary. One estimate says 529, while a director of the industry body BGMEA spoke of 700-800 on the second day alone.
Six members on the wage board
Senior judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman chairs the board. Its other members are independent member Moslehuddin Ahmed, a Dhaka University professor, two employer representatives, two worker representatives and one government representative. The employers' representatives are Asif Ayub of the Employers' Federation and Shamsuddin, a BGMEA director. Anwar Hossain and Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Garment and Industrial Workers' Federation, speak for the workers.
On 3 November, two days after the board was named, its first meeting had still not been scheduled. The chair said a session would be held soon. The previous board called its first meeting 45 days after it was named, and the whole process took six to seven months. This time the government wants a shorter timeline. Babul Akhter wants the new wages to take effect in January 2027 and the board to meet in back-to-back sessions if needed.
The last board recommended 12,500 taka in the first week of November 2023, and the government announced the decision in December. The minimum before that was 8,000 taka.
Costly food and rent versus costly power and gas
Babul Akhter said Bangladesh has "some of the lowest wages in the garment industry in the world". He said factory owners should negotiate better prices with international buyers. Workers say food, rent, transport and healthcare are getting more expensive.
BGMEA president Mahmud Hasan Khan said the government had already taken a step by setting up the board. He warned that if protests continue, the association will apply a "no work, no pay" rule. Director Faisal Samad said a specific proposal "will take time", but a rise "will come soon". Owners complain of costly power and gas, high interest rates and an unstable energy market because of the US and Israeli war against Iran.
Economists Selim Raihan and Mustafizur Rahman say the demands have grounds, because inflation has outpaced wages. Raihan warns that a sharp jump would hurt profits and competitiveness, and proposes raising pay in stages.
Wages are about 12% of a T-shirt's export price
The sector accounts for about 80% of Bangladesh's exports, employs around 4 million people in 3,500 factories and makes up about 10% of GDP. Its buyers include Levi's, Zara, Walmart and H&M.
The T-shirt figures come from a report by Public Eye and the Clean Clothes Campaign. A Bangladeshi cotton T-shirt cost $2.06 on average when imported into the EU in 2024. Wages make up about 12% of its export price. Bangladesh supplies 61% of the T-shirts imported into the EU.
The sums for one T-shirt show the gap. If all pay at a factory rose 2.4 times, labour cost would jump from about 25 cents to about 59, or by about 35 cents. That is about 17% of the export price. The calculation is an illustration, not a forecast, because workers on higher grades earn more than the minimum, and factories can offset costs by raising productivity. The buyer could also cover part of the gap if it agrees to a higher price.
The 2023 experience shows this is not guaranteed. A survey of 66 manufacturers by a BGMEA panel found in January 2024 that 79.1% of them had still not received a higher price from their buyers, even though buyers had promised to cover the difference. The average "free on board" price (when goods are loaded on the ship) had fallen 3.9% year on year.
According to the 2026 report, all six big buyers paid less in real terms for T-shirts in 2025 than in 2021. All except Fast Retailing dispute the calculations, and Primark, LPP, Inditex and Bestseller say the report ignores the product mix and the cost of cotton.
Workers are preparing to write to the board's chair to ask for a quick meeting.