At least two people were killed in skirmishes with security forces and damage to numerous facilities resulting from thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers' walkout on Monday in protest of their low wages, according to authorities.

Police said tens of thousands of workers at dozens of factories had launched strikes in the cities of Ashulia and Gazipur, with authorities firing tear gas and rubber bullets as crowds smashed up factories and blocked roads.

Bangladesh is the second largest garment-producing country after China with its nearly 3,500 factories where some 4 million workers are employed — most are women — according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA. The workers get 8,300 takas, or $75, as monthly minimum wage and they often need to work overtime to make ends meet, labour unions and workers say.

Over the weekend, protests broke out when the BGMEA proposed raising the minimum wage by 25% to $90 per month, rather than the $208 the workers demanded.

Bangladesh’s largest industrial city, Gazipur is home to over a thousand plants that make clothing for brands such as H&M and Gap.

"Workers hit the streets as their salaries can no longer cover rising food expenses," said Al Kamran, a senior garment union leader in Ashulia.

Garment worker, Shahida Akhter said, while protesting in Mirpur that she struggles to put food on the table.

“(If you) reduce the price of (essential) goods, our wages won’t need to be hiked,” she said, complaining about the constant rise in prices. "Do you know what is the cost of having a family? If there are babies, we need to spend more,” Akhter added.

BGMEA called on the protesters not to use violence or damage their factories. According to local media reports, some workers even started fires, blocked highways, and vandalized many industries in addition to the two workers who perished in battles with police in Gazipur.

Bangladesh is one of the world's largest garment exporters, with the industry accounting for 85 percent of the country's $55 billion in annual exports.

Although Bangladesh has been seeing steady yearly economic growth for some time, growing inflation is now a significant problem.

"Some 15,000 of the workers joined protests for a wage hike at separate places in Ashulia," Mahmud Naser, a deputy police chief of the Ashulia industrial area, told news agencies.

The protests came amid rising tensions over the coming general elections between the ruling Awami League party — led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — and the main opposition group — Bangladesh Nationalist Party — led by her rival and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Image source: AP