About a thousand factory workers were demonstrating in Savar since this morning protesting what they said was discrimination in their new wage board. The workers began their demonstration on Hemayetpur Tannery road in Savar around 9:00am, reports our Savar correspondent from the spot. As additional police forces were deployed throughout the area, five factories including three of Standard Group were shut down to avert any untoward incident. Rahima Begum, a worker of Standard Group, told The Daily Star they are protesting because old employees will not have a proportional wage hike to what a new employee will receive. Sana Shaminur Rahman, superintendent of police of Dhaka Industrial Police, told our correspondent, “The negotiation with the factory owners is underway”. When contacted with the authorities of the factories, security guards of those said they are not at liberty to talk with the reporters on the issue. On September 13, the government raised the minimum monthly wage for 4.4 million garment workers by around 51 percent to Tk 8,000 from the existing Tk 5,300 with effect from December.
