WORLD
Angry protest greets wage increase
Garment workers are demanding 23,000 taka minimum wage
Bangladesh raised the minimum monthly pay for the country's four million garment workers by 56.25 percent on Tuesday, a decision immediately rejected by unions seeking a near-tripling of the figure.
"The new minimum monthly wage for garment factory workers has been fixed at 12,500 taka ($113)," Raisha Afroz, the board secretary of the state-appointed board that fixes minimum wage, told Agence France-Presse.
"This is unacceptable. This is below our expectations," Kalpona Akter, head of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, said.
Hundreds of workers
staged an angry protest just yards from the labor ministry after the announcement.