Bangladesh police break up workers protests: three dead
DHAKA Dec 12 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed and more
than 250 others were injured when police fired tear gas and rubber
bullets to disperse wage protests by textile workers in Bangladesh
on Sunday, police and doctors said.
Photo : AFP
Police said three male workers were killed and
some 150 were injured in the main port city of Chittagong, some 300
km (190 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.
Around 50 others were injured in violence in Dhaka and another 50
were hurt in nearby Narayanganj town.
Police earlier said around 4,000 workers
attacked police and vandalized at least 20 vehicles, including
setting fire to one, in Chittagong.
Witnesses said garments workers clashed with police and smashed
vehicles at Kuril in Dhaka. It took police several hours to bring
the situation under control.
"We can so far confirm the death of one male worker," police
officer Reza Al Masud told reporters in Chittagong.
Doctors at the emergency department of the Chittagong Medical
College Hospital later said a total of three male bodies had been
carried to the morgue from the scene. The violence forced some 300
industrial units, mostly garment factories, to close down in the
Chittagong Export Procession Zone (CEPZ).
There are several garment factories owned by South Korean, Japanese
and Chinese companies in the CEPZ, officials of the Bangladesh
commerce ministry said. Factory officials and police said they
would be reopened as soon as possible.
The government raised minimum monthly salaries for garment workers
couple of months ago, but the protesters said they were not being
paid accordingly.
The new minimum wage was raised to 3,000 taka ($43), from 1,662
taka ($24) earlier, payable from Dec. 1.
The labour minister, Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, urged
restraint.
"I call upon the garment workers to calm down, new wages will be
implemented in all garment factories for all employees," Mosharraf
told reporters. Garments account for more than 80 percent of
Bangladesh's annual exports worth of more than $16
billion.
Bangladesh has nearly 4,500 garment businesses employing 3 million
workers, mostly women. (Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Alex
Richardson)
12-12-2010