World

Worker unrest shuts hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh

DHAKA: Hundreds of garment factories across Bangladesh were closed on Monday after hundreds of thousands of workers staged the largest protest in years to demand a rise in monthly wages. The world’s second-largest exporter after China, the Bangladeshi ready-made garment industry is the backbone of its modern economy, accounting for 80 percent of export earnings, which reach $40 billion per fiscal year. The sector is the largest formal industrial employer in the country, with around 4 million pe