Garment workers in Ashulia's Jirabo say wages no longer cover the household: 'It has been two months, I have forgotten even the smell of fish'

In a small colony beside Jirabo Bazar in Dhaka's Ashulia there are about 20 small houses in two rows, all of them home to garment workers employed in the area. Although it was a normal working day at the factories, at around eleven in the morning workers could be seen in almost every home, because for the past few days the factories have been closing within about an hour.

Garment worker Tutul Molla lives in a small room in that colony with his wife and children. He goes to the factory every morning but is sent home within an hour. Explaining why workers are protesting for a pay rise, he said: 'The price of everything just keeps going up. With the wages I get we eat two meals, and even then it does not last half the month. It has been two months, I have forgotten even the smell of fish; meat is eaten only on the two Eids.'

Speaking to at least 10 garment worker families in the colony, most workers said the same thing: in just one year their cost of living has risen by about one and a half times, while their income has not risen in step. Almost all of them said electricity and gas prices have risen the most in the past few months, changing their entire household arithmetic.

The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is currently 12,500 taka; that wage was set in November 2023. After the movement demanding a minimum wage of 30,000 taka intensified over the past few days, the government has formed a wage board.

Rahima Khatun came to Dhaka from Sundarganj in Gaibandha in 2024 and started work at a factory for 12,500 taka. Her husband also worked at another factory then, and the five-member family managed on their two incomes. A few months ago her husband fell ill and lost his job, and she is now the family's only earner. She said: 'In two years my income has risen by 1,500 taka. And household costs have risen by seven to eight thousand taka. Now how am I supposed to run my family on this wage?'

The rent for each home in the colony is 5,200 taka and each house has two small rooms. Garment worker Monoara Begum, who lives in one of the houses, said her monthly income is 15,000 taka, while house rent, gas and electricity bills alone cost about 9,000 taka; the family has to be run carefully on what remains. She asked: 'In the market, the price of everything except potatoes and green chillies is going up — how are we supposed to run our households?'

Most workers living in the colony buy daily necessities on credit from specific shops. Garment worker Md Nurunnabi Mia said: 'I get my salary on the seventh of the month, on the tenth I repay the shop credit and pay the house rent. After the fifteenth we have no money left in hand. Costs have risen so much that we are struggling to run the family.'

Jesmin Akter, who came to Dhaka from Patuakhali a few years ago, and her son both took jobs in garment factories. Since she lost her job about a year ago, the family now runs on her son's income; his wage is 16,000 taka, with some extra from overtime at times. She said she used to cook on gas, but now no cylinder can be found for under 2,500 taka, so she has been forced to stop buying gas and cook on a stove.

Workers complain that just a year ago a 12kg cooking gas cylinder cost a little over 1,200 taka and cylinders were sold in Ashulia's shops at the fixed price. For the past one and a half to two months they have had to buy each cylinder for at least 2,500 taka. Rahima Begum said: 'In two years my wage has risen by only one thousand taka, and the price of gas alone has risen by about one and a half thousand taka.'

On electricity bills, the colony's workers said the average bill for most houses a year ago was at most 500–600 taka; now that bill stands at 1,500 to 2,000 taka. Nurunnabi Mia said: 'I used to pay an electricity bill of 500/600 taka. Now it is fifteen hundred in some months, two thousand in others. This gas and electricity have greatly increased our costs.'

The Ashulia-Jirabo area has a significant number of garment factories; workers line up to enter the factories at eight in the morning and return home after the afternoon closing. That routine has changed for about a week: everyone goes to work at eight but returns within two to three hours. In the first house of the colony, garment worker Aminur Rahman was seen weaving a mat with plastic; he said the factories close within two hours because of the ongoing movement for a wage increase, and he uses that time to weave mats.

On Tuesday 3 November, continuing the previous days' movement, unrest began at various factories in Ashulia after nine in the morning, and the factories were closed that day as well. After the movement demanding a minimum wage of 30,000 taka began, the government assured a wage increase by forming a wage board. After the movement turned violent, the government alleged that the ousted Awami League was behind the movement.

The garment workers, however, say the prices of essentials including gas and electricity have risen so much that life has become difficult unless wages rise. Nurunnabi Mia said: 'We are not doing this movement for no reason. Before, we could buy things cheaply and the family ran. Now it does not. If the price of everything rises and our wages stay the same, what option do we have but to protest? Let the government bring down the price of everything, we will not need extra wages.'