Bangladesh garment workers wages have fallen so far behind the cost of living that some of the people stitching clothes for the world’s biggest fashion brands say they can no longer feed their children. Tens of thousands of workers have taken to the streets of Dhaka’s industrial belt demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka, roughly 241 dollars, more than double the current floor of 12,500 taka. Behind the protests are stories of hunger, debt and children pulled out of school.

One Worker’s Reality

Laili Begum, 37, operates a sewing machine at Virtual Bottoms Limited, a ready-made garment factory on the outskirts of the capital. She earns around 15,000 taka a month, rising to as much as 20,000 taka with overtime. It is not enough.

Earlier this year her 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son left school because she could not pay for their education. On many days the family eats one proper meal, if that. Begum described a breakfast of puffed rice and a packet snack, nothing for lunch, and the hope of something substantial at dinner. Her son, she said, is so thin that his ribs are visible.

She pays 3,500 taka in rent for a single room shared with her mother and two children. Her father in Sirajganj district also depends on her earnings. Unable to afford a gas cylinder costing about 2,200 taka, she cooks over fires made from scavenged paper and refuse.

A Sector Worth Billions

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter after China, supplying brands including H&M, Zara, Levi Strauss, Walmart and Primark. The garment industry generates more than 80 percent of the country’s export income, which reached 39 billion dollars in the last financial year. It employs roughly four million people, half of them women.

Yet wages in Bangladesh rank among the lowest of any major apparel-producing nation. Cambodia sets its garment minimum at 210 dollars a month. Vietnam’s ranges from 140 to 210 dollars. In Guangdong, China’s manufacturing heartland, wages run from 286 to 378 dollars. The gap has widened as Bangladeshi inflation has eaten into real earnings.

Inflation Outpaces Pay

The minimum wage was last revised in December 2023. Since then prices have climbed relentlessly. Official figures put annual inflation at 8.34 percent in September, with food costs up 7.22 percent and non-food expenses up 9.30 percent.

Rasel Khan, 30, who works in Ashulia and supports his wife, child, mother and younger brother on 18,000 to 20,000 taka a month including overtime, has borrowed about 100,000 taka just to keep his household afloat. He said it had become impossible to sustain a family on his income and that borrowing was the only way to survive.

Zahid Hussain, formerly lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office, said five years of persistent inflation had sharply reduced the purchasing power of low-paid workers, forcing them to cut their living standards because they have no cushion. He added that a recent pay rise for government employees had created a demonstration effect, raising expectations among private-sector workers for similar relief.

The Protests Spread

The demonstrations began on Saturday and have continued for three days. On Sunday, Begum joined a rally in the Jamgora section of Ashulia, where police used tear gas and stun grenades and arrested dozens. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said operations were disrupted at 529 factories that day, affecting nearly a million workers.

On Monday, workers in Gazipur blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway and set several vehicles alight, while clashes with police were reported in Mirpur.

Government Response

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman called an emergency meeting on Sunday, and the government announced a six-member wage board to review workers’ demands. The move followed a legal amendment shortening the wage review cycle from five years to three, with the current period ending in December.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed met factory owners on Monday and assured them a new minimum would be settled through negotiation. Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury urged workers to return to their machines, saying the board would begin deliberating soon.

Workers remain unconvinced. Begum said the government only makes promises and has not said when wages will rise or by how much. Babul Akhter, the workers’ representative on the board, called for new wages to take effect from January 2027 salaries, asked protesters to return to work, and demanded the release of those arrested and the withdrawal of cases against them.

Owners Point to Buyers

Manufacturers say they are squeezed between worker demands and the prices paid by international brands. Sheikh Hossain Muhammad Mustafiz, a BGMEA official and managing director of Cute Dress Industry Ltd, said workers deserve a decent standard of living but that large wage increases without fair purchasing prices could strain factories and threaten jobs. He argued that global brands must share responsibility for protecting workers’ purchasing power through responsible buying practices.

Critics Blame Western Brands

Taqbir Huda, a human rights lawyer and Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford, went further. He said the party with the power to change the situation overnight, the Western brands that capture most of the value from Bangladeshi-made clothing, has played the most extractive role. He noted that the wage board, due this year, was announced only after workers protested, and that history gives them little reason to expect improvement without taking to the streets.

Huda added that a wage board that does not address inflation and the cost-of-living crisis will not satisfy workers’ demands.

What Workers Need

For Begum, the prospect of a lengthy negotiation means more weeks of hunger. Her demand is simple but twofold: wages must rise, and food prices must come down. Until both happen, she and millions like her will keep sewing clothes they could never afford, for customers who rarely consider what it costs to make them.