Bangladesh Workers Launch Wage Protest
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — About 10,000 textile workers clashed with police on Saturday near Bangladesh's capital during protests demanding better wages to meet higher food prices, a police official said.
Dozens of people including at least 20 police officials were injured in the violence at Fatullah outside Dhaka, local police station official Angur Akter said by telephone.
The protesters went on rampage, attacking factories and smashing vehicles, for better wages so that they can face higher food prices, she said.
The security officials used tear gas to disperse the protesters who retaliated with bricks and stones, she said.
Workers from about 20 factories took part in the protest, she said.
"The situation is now under control," she said, adding that the injured have been hospitalized.
Amid soaring prices of food, especially of the main diet rice, the government has opened more than 6,000 cut-price outlets across the country, where nearly half the population lives on less than $1 a day.
Bangladesh, a nation of 150 million, people, is facing a food shortfall coupled with higher prices after last year's floods and a cyclone destroyed about 3 million tons of food crops.