[Reposted] Gap, Zara and H&M at Brent Cross: "Bangladesh garment factories sack hundreds after pay protests"

"Dozens have been arrested amid clashes with police as impoverished workers demand a trebling of pay"

Link to The Guardian

"At least 1,500 workers have been sacked from Bangladesh garment factories after protests forced a week-long shutdown at dozens of sites supplying top European and American brands.

"Tens of thousands of workers walked out of factories this month in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia which make clothes for top western brands such as

Gap [at Brent Cross],

Zara [at Brent Cross],

and H&M [at Brent Cross]

prompting concerns over supply during the holiday season.

"The protests were sparked by the sacking of 121 workers, but soon evolved into a demand for the trebling of workers' pay from the current monthly minimum of 5,300 taka (£54).

"... The monthly minimum wage for Bangladeshi textile workers was raised in 2013 after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex which killed 1,134 people. It triggered massive protests and international scrutiny of the industry.

"But it remains one of the lowest wages in the world, less than one-fifth of what some campaigners estimate to be the country's living wage."