Summary
30 July 2010
Police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka say thousands of garment factory workers, who want higher minimum wages, have blocked roads and attacked shops and factories.
Reporter:
Anbarasan Ethirajan
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Officials say thousands of workers first blocked one of the city's key link roads and then started attacking several cars in a factory district. A senior police official told the 大象传媒 that the protesters later started throwing stones at the factories.
He said another group of garment factory workers had targeted some luxury shops, looting the contents and then setting fire to the buildings.
Additional police forces have been rushed to the scene. Some of the workers unions have rejected the new minimum wage of $43 a month for garment factory workers announced by the government on Thursday. They want a minimum salary of at least $70.
More than three million people, mostly women, work in Bangladesh's garment industry, which is a key sector of the country's economy.
Anbarasan Ethirajan, 大象传媒 News, Dhaka
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Vocabulary
- blocked
prevented something from moving through - in this case, traffic on the roads
- key link roads
very important roads which connect major areas of the city and are used by many people
- a factory district
an area with lots of buildings where large amounts of goods are manufactured
- protesters
people who show they disagree with something by gathering in an area, shouting, singing, carrying signs or in other ways
- garment factory workers
people who make the items sold in the clothing industry
- targeted
aimed an attack at a particular place
- looting the contents
stealing things (usually carried out by large numbers of people during a violent event or protest)
- workers unions
organisations that represent the people who work in a particular industry, protecting their rights, pay and working conditions
- minimum salary
the smallest amount of money allowed to be paid to people for the work they do
- key sector
very important part
