Thousands of garment factory workers have taken to the streets of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, and the industrial district of Gazipur to demand better wages.

The workers get 8,300 takas, or $75, as monthly minimum wage and they often need to work overtime to make ends meet, labor unions and workers say.

Protests erupted over the weekend after BGMEA offered to increase the monthly minimum wage by 25% to reach $90, instead of the $208 demanded by the workers.

Bangladesh earns annually about $55 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.

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.

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