Bangladesh Garment Workers Protest Over Pay, Factories Shutdown

Published September 23, 2013 at 10:35 AM EDT

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with protests in Bangladesh.

Thousands of garment workers in Bangladesh continue protesting today. Dozens have been injured in clashes with police. They're demanding higher wages, seeking about $100 - per month. The demonstrators have forced over 100 factories to closes; factories that supply retailer like Wal-Mart and Gap.

Bangladesh has become a global clothing manufacturing in part because of those low wages. But working conditions have come under the spotlight because of tragedies like one this spring, when a building housing several garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,000 people. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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