FATULLAH (Bangladesh), April 15: Thousands of Bangladeshi textile workers on Tuesday defied a government ban on protests and went on strike to demand action over low wages and soaring food prices.

Bangladesh’s garment industry, crucial for the economy as the leading export earner, saw dozens of factories idle at the Fatullah industrial area, 20 kilometres south of Dhaka, local police chief Bhuiyan Mahbub Hasan said.

“Over 15,000 workers are sitting in their factories doing nothing. They said they would not start work until the owners raise their salaries. They said their present wages don’t cover food expenses,” he said.

The workers were protesting silently inside the factories, locked up by authorities who are trying to prevent a repeat of weekend violence that left at least 50 people injured in clashes between workers and police.

Military vehicles armed with machine guns were patrolling the streets in the industrial area, which is home to over five hundred factories.

“They are trying to scare us,” said a Multi Fibre Group worker, who asked his name not be used for fear of getting the sack. “But with my monthly salary I cannot even buy 20 days of food.” Multi Fibre Group, where some 6,000 workers have stopped work since Saturday, said it has agreed to raise salaries by an additional 200 taka (three dollars) for only the next three months.

But workers in front of the factory said that this offer has been rejected as insufficient. Other workers have also complained of arbitrary sackings.

Rice prices have doubled in Bangladesh in the past year, in part due to devastating floods and a massive cyclone in 2007.

The basic minimum monthly salary of a garment worker is only $25 while a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice costs 35 taka (50 cents) — normally enough to feed a family of four for a day.

The majority of Bangladeshi households spend nearly 70 per cent of their income on food and the government has moved to import more rice and sell it at subsidised prices on the open market to tame inflation.

But soaring global prices and moves by many rice exporting countries to limit supplies have added to shortages.

At least five people have died in similar protests over high food and fuel prices in Haiti, while disturbances have rocked Egypt, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in the past month.

Last month, the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association urged the government to distribute subsidised rice to 2.5 million workers, fearing the food price hike could cause widespread unrest in the industry.

Bangladesh has been ruled by a military-backed government since January last year after emergency was launched and polls cancelled.—AFP