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Bangladeshi garment workers fight for their wages at Tuba Group, 2014

Summary

From July to October 2014, Tuba Group garment workers in Bangladesh used road blockades, hunger strikes, a six-floor market occupation, and a final lock-in of owner Delwar Hossain in his own office to win May-July wages for 1,600 workers and partial Eid-ul-Azha bonuses for 900 workers (roughly US$64,000). [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Tactics used

  • ‘[hunger-strike
  • sit-in
  • occupation
  • road-blockade
  • working-without-collaboration]‘

Background

Tuba Group, supplier to Walmart and H&M, was notorious for the lowest wages in global garment manufacturing (about US$38/month) and the 2012 Tarzeen factory fire that killed 112 workers; owner Delwar Hossain was jailed in February 2014 for negligence, but workers — owed overtime, Eid bonuses, and wages for May, June, and July — went on strike in June 2014 to no effect. [source: nv-database]

What happened

On 9 July 2014, 500 workers, mostly women, blocked Bishwa Road in Badda; police fired water cannons, injuring ten, and threatened rape. [source: nv-database] On 24 June, several hundred marched to BGMEA headquarters and besieged the building; when promised wages did not arrive by 27 July, 1,600 workers across all five Tuba factories occupied one unit of Hossain Market in Badda for an indefinite hunger strike. [source: nv-database]

Moshrefa Mishu and Joly Talukder formed the Tuba Group Workers Movement Committee; by 30 July 112 workers had fallen ill (14 hospitalized). [source: nv-database] On 4 August, a 12-organization press rally at Jatiya Press Club and a “human chain” by Sangkhuddho Nari Samaj drew wide support; the next day High Court lawyers and Dhaka University teachers joined the fast and TGWMC began a BGMEA sit-in. [source: nv-database] Police baton-charged and fired tear gas on 6 August, dragged 200 workers from the sixth floor, and detained Mishu, Talukder, and Communist Party leader Monjur Moin; the Clean Clothes Campaign issued a national strike call. [source: nv-database]

On 8 August police cut off the factory water, locked doors, and fired rubber bullets. [source: nv-database] On 11 August Tuba paid May-July wages to most of the 1,600 workers — a partial victory — but withheld Eid-ul-Azha bonuses. [source: nv-database] Hossain then closed all five factories on 22 August, demanding a 250-300 million Taka government-backed loan; 400 workers marched on 20 August demanding reopening. [source: nv-database]

On 15 October 2014, leaders and workers forced their way into Hossain’s office, locked him inside for 18 hours, and extracted bonus payments for 900 workers (about 5 million Taka / US$64,000); the hunger strike ended, though the factories stayed closed and many workers could not regain employment. [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Moshrefa Mishu (Garment Workers Unity Forum, Garments Sromik Oikko)
  • Joly Talukder (Garments Sramik Trade Union Centre)
  • Clean Clothes Campaign; Garment Workers Unity Forum; Sramik Sangarm Parishad
  • Front Line Defenders; Asia Floor Wages; Ubinig
  • Communist Party of Bangladesh; Socialist Party of Bangladesh
  • Sangkhuddho Nari Samaj; Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal; Gonotantrik Bam Morcha; Nagarik Oikya Forum
  • Dhaka University teachers; High Court lawyers
  • Tuba Group owner Delwar Hossain (conceded)
  • BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association)

Outcome

Verdict: partial. (4.5/10 on the GNVAD scale.)

Tuba paid May-July wages to most of the 1,600 workers on 11 August, then paid bonuses to 900 workers after the 15 October office lock-in. Factories remained closed and many workers could not regain employment. [source: nv-database]

Lessons

  • A multi-floor market occupation that includes lawyers, academics, and journalists as fasters captures media and slows police action.
  • Confinement of an owner/decision-maker (the 18-hour office lock-in) is a higher-risk tactic that can quickly extract last-mile concessions when other levers stall.
  • Police threats of rape and water cannons against mostly-women garment workers are exactly the kind of repression that produces international solidarity (the Clean Clothes Campaign national strike call); campaigners should anticipate and document it.
  • Even partial wage wins (May-July wages and partial Eid bonuses) are real material outcomes that cascade into industry-wide organising opportunities — partial is not the same as failure.

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only

Last verified: 2026-07-09