Bangladesh's government, facing pressure to improve standards in the garment industry following the collapse of an eight-story Rana Plaza, in which the death toll stood at 1,118 on Sunday.
According to Workers' groups, the current $38-per-month minimum wage, being half of what Cambodia's factory workers receives, is barely enough to scrape by on.
Bangladesh's workers trooped in their tens of thousands to protest for higher remuneration on the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh's largest and capital city.
Bangladesh's textile minister, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, said the government will soon start talks with labor groups and factory owners to agree on a new minimum wage for the sector. The increase, he added, will be applied retroactively on May 1st, 2013.
It is believed that wages are unlikely to go much higher. Factory owners, who are in opposition to the hike, say they can't afford to pay significantly more to workers because Western consumers have become accustomed to cheap clothing. "If we are to pay higher wages, we may have to go to the retailer and say, 'Stop doing 'Buy one, get one free,'" said Abdus Salam Murshedy, co-owner of Envoy Group, a large Bangladeshi garment manufacturer.
Due to the lack of alternatives, a lot of factory said they have no intention of quitting, pay raise or not.
Saira Banu, a seamstress in her 20s, from a factory in Rana Plaza who suffered broken ribs in the collapse, says she would like to quit. "I'd like to find alternative work, ...But I don't know what I can do." she said.
Banu stated that she does not want to return to a previous job as a housemaid, an informal position that isn't covered by a minimum wage and pays about $20 per month.
Bangladesh has built a huge garment industry over the past decade, using the lure of cheap wages to undercut China, which is still the world's largest producer. Presently, Bangladesh exports about $20 billion in clothes annually to United States and European based retailers.
The boom, since the early 2000s, provided jobs for women who previously had few opportunities in Bangladesh's male-dominated villages. Out of estimated four million people employed in the garment factory sector, more than 90% of workers are reportedly young females from the countryside.
Another victim of the buidling collapse, a 21-year-old seamstress identified as Rozina Akter, who worked at Phantom Apparels, a factory on the fourth floor of Rana Plaza, at the time of the disaster, said the industry offered her family a salvation of sorts, as they faced starvation in her village.
She attempted to run for a stairwell when the building shook on April 24, 2013. Next thing she knew, she was falling down into pitch blackness. Two days later, rescuers pulled Akter out of the rubble and took her to the hospital, where she is recovering from a fractured leg. Despite this, Akter said she is keen to find another factory job. "I'll go back to work as soon as I get better," said Ms. Akter. "Not all buildings will collapse." she said.
According to report, the last time Bangladesh increased its minimum garment-worker wage was in late 2010. The first minimum wage for garment workers was set in 1994, when the sector came under international scrutiny as foreign retailers began to buy more from the country. It was raised again in 2006.
Workers say that with inflation of 8%, it is hard to make ends meet. These workers sew the clothes that earn the country foreign currency, so they deserve better. Workers in Bangladesh, those with little schooling in particular, lack leverage to demand higher wages. Other jobs, such as those of chemical factories or ship-breaking yards, are viewed as more hazardous.
A 27-year-old garment worker, identified as Mominur Rahman, fractured his spine when he attempted to jump down from the third floor of Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka, which claimed about a hundred lives, is still recovering, from the injury.
According to him, he is currently living off the $1,250 compensation he got from an association of factory owners. Despite 12-hour shifts, sometimes even longer periods, Mr. Rahman said he plans to stick with the industry. When big orders come through, the job offers better opportunities than those in his native town, 175 kilometers outside the capital. Rahman said.
