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Overview of updates on the 2026 Bangladesh minimum wage negotiations

This is the CCC live blog on the Bangladesh Minimum Wage Negotiations – 2026
Our aim is to update this blog regularly during the minimum wage negotiations in Bangladesh. A quick overview to get you up to speed on everything that happened before we started this live blog:

  • n July 2026, trade unions in Bangladesh called on the Ministry of Labour to form a Wage Board, in line with the newly adopted labour law that prescribes a minimum wage revision once every three years. The last minimum wage negotiations for the garment sector took place in 2023.

  • On October 29, the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council called for the new minimum wage to be set at Tk32,000 (260 USD/230 EUR) per month.

  • On October 31st, workers in several districts started protesting to demand the immediate formation of a new Wage Board and an increase of the minimum wage to at least Tk30,000. Several main roads were blocked by protesters.

  • On November 1st, the government of Bangladesh announced the formation of a Wage Board. In the meantime protests had taken over Dhaka and over 600 factories announced factories would remain closed the next day due to unrest. Many factories have remained shut ever since.

Update 5 November:

  • CCC launched an email-to-target action urging 10 of the biggest buyers from Bangladesh to immediately publicly support workers' demand for a minimum wage of Tk32,000.
  • Between 100-200 factories remained closed again on Thursday in Ashulia and Savar. Although there were fewer protests today, local police reported at least 50 injured.

    • 8 workers got arrested during clashes with the police.

Update 4 November:

  • 1 worker got killed during the ongoing wage protests in Bangladesh yesterday. Toufiq Sheikh was ‘filming vandalism’, according to police, when he was beaten up. He passed away in the hospital due to his severe injuries.

  • 16 more workers have reportedly been arrested during the protest on Tuesday. Their identities as well as the charges filed against them remain unknown. On Monday, at least 29 protesters were arrested already. A total of 57 people have been arrested since the start of the protests on Saturday. Police have announced to start using drones and body-cams to ‘strengthen surveillance’.

  • The Wage Board, which was formed on November 1st, met for the first time today and announced the new pay scale will take effect in December, and workers will receive their first salaries under this new pay scale in January 2027.

Find our statement about the negotiations here.