Despite being a major supplier of clothing to fast fashion brands, Bangladesh has one of the lowest minimum wages for garment workers in the world, which has remained set at 8,000 taka (£60) since 2018.
The Bangladeshi Ministry for Labour and Employment is proposing a new minimum wage of 12,500 taka (£92) a month, which is significantly lower than the 23,000 taka (£170) a month that workers’ unions say is the minimum needed to cover basic living costs amid spiralling inflation and a cost of living crisis.
Teachers make less than 23,000 Tk a month.
A more direct example. The paper I write for there is about the equiv of a national title here. Roughly, about. A national title here will be £250 to £600 for a column (depends which and what length). I get paid* 2,000 Tk per column in Bangladesh. That makes 8k Tk about the same as doing a national newspaper column once a week. Roughly, you understand. For entry level factory work that sounds -ish right, no? And 3x a newspaper columnist sounds a little much perhaps, yes?
*Yes, it goes to charity.
The ladies doing the demonstrating seem to be adequately clad and fed.
Of course the crucial factor in this demand is what the costs are in competing countries. If they’re less than those of Bang, the fast fashion brands will all buy their clothing there. Or else go broke.