Laili Begum can no longer afford to keep her two children in school.
asserted
Begum → afford → school
There are days when the 37-year-old garment worker struggles to put even one proper meal on the table.
asserted
worker → be → table
An experienced sewing operator at Virtual Bottoms Limited, a ready-made garments factory near Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, Begum earns around 15,000 taka ($121) a month, which sometimes rises to 18,000–20,000 taka ($145–$161) when she works overtime.
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Her 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son dropped out of school earlier this year because she could not afford their education.
“We can barely afford one proper meal a day.
uncertain
We → make → meal
This morning, we had only puffed rice and Bombay mix [a snack].
asserted
we → have → rice
We’ve been going hungry, hoping to have a proper meal tonight.
asserted
We → go → meal
This is how we survive now,” she told Al Jazeera.
asserted
she → survive → Jazeera
“My son is so thin that you can count every rib in his chest.
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you → count → chest
What else can I do?
asserted
I → do → What
They are now protesting for better wages.
asserted
They → protest → wages
The country’s ready-made garment sector accounts for more than 80 percent of its export earnings, which touched $39bn last financial year.
asserted
which → make → 39bn
Yet, the people sewing those clothes say their pay no longer covers basic living costs.
asserted
pay → sew → costs
‘Government only makes promises’
asserted
Government → make → promises
A Muslim-majority South Asian nation of 170 million people, Bangladesh has one of the world’s lowest wages among apparel-producing countries.
asserted
Bangladesh → have → countries
Cambodia has a minimum wage of $210 a month for garment workers, Vietnam’s range from $140-$210, while wages at China’s manufacturing hub of Guangdong range between $286 and $378.
asserted
wages → have → 286
That disparity – worsened by rising inflation and the growing cost of living – pushed the workers to strike and hit the streets on Saturday to demand a minimum wage of 30,000 taka ($241), more than double the current wage of 12,500 taka ($102).
asserted
disparity → worsen → taka
On Sunday, Begum joined one such protest in the Jamgora part of the Ashulia industrial area on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, with the police firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters, and arresting dozens of them.
asserted
police → join → them
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the demonstrations disrupted operations at 529 factories on Sunday and affected nearly a million workers.
asserted
demonstrations → say → workers
Later that day, the government announced the formation of a six-member wage board to review the workers’ demands.
asserted
government → announce → demands
But that did not stop the garment workers from returning to the streets for a third straight day on Monday.
asserted
that → stop → Monday
In northern Dhaka’s Gazipur area, the workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, and vandalised and torched several vehicles, while clashes with police were reported from the neighbouring Mirpur district.
asserted
clashes → block → district
“The government only makes promises,” Begum told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Begum → make → Jazeera
“They haven’t told us when wages will increase and by how much.”
asserted
wages → tell → much
Inflation eating into wages
Rasel Khan, a 30-year-old garment worker at Ashulia, told Al Jazeera his monthly earnings of 18,000–20,000 taka ($145–$161), including overtime, were no longer enough to support his family, which included his mother and younger brother besides his wife and child.
asserted
which → eat → wife
As living costs soar, he has accumulated a debt of about 100,000 taka ($805) to meet his needs.
asserted
he → soar → needs
“It’s impossible to support a family on this income anymore.
asserted
It → ’ → income
Prices keep rising, and we have to borrow money just to survive,” he said.
asserted
he → rise → money
The last revision of the minimum wage in the garment sector took place in December 2023.
asserted
revision → take → December
Since then, prices have continued to climb.
asserted
prices → continue → ?
Official data put annual inflation at 8.34 percent in September, including 7.22 percent for food and 9.30 percent for non-food expenses.
asserted
data → put → expenses
Begum says she pays 3,500 taka ($28) as rent for a single room shared with her mother and children.
asserted
she → say → mother
Her father, living in their village in the central district of Sirajganj, also depends on her income.
asserted
father → live → income
She says she is burning discarded paper and other materials to cook because she is not able to afford a gas cylinder that costs about 2,200 taka ($18).
asserted
that → say → taka
Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office, said persistent inflation over the past five years has sharply eroded the purchasing power of low-paid workers.
asserted
inflation → say → workers
“When real income falls, they have to cut their daily living standards,” he told Al Jazeera.
asserted
he → fall → Jazeera
“They don’t have any surplus income.”
asserted
They → have → income
Hussain said a recent hike in the salary of government employees has had a “demonstration effect” among private-sector workers waiting for a similar relief.
asserted
hike → say → relief
The government’s announcement of a wage board follows an amendment to labour laws to reduce the wage review cycle from five years to three years.
asserted
announcement → follow → years
The current three-year period ends in December.
asserted
period → end → December
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman convened an emergency meeting of top government officials on Sunday, while Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed met the garment factory owners on Monday, assuring them that a new minimum wage would be fixed through negotiations.
asserted
wage → convene → negotiations
Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury meanwhile urged the workers to resume work, saying the wage board would begin its deliberations shortly.
But Babul Akhter, a workers’ representative on the board, called for the new wages to take effect with January 2027 salaries.
asserted
wages → urge → salaries
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
