At least one person died and 20 were injured Sunday near Bangladesh's capital after police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of labourers demanding a pay-hike, according to a local officer. Police chief Afzal Hossain said officers opened fire after workers vandalised a plant owned by a top pharmaceutical company at Siddhirganj, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Dhaka.
"There were 500 workers who were demanding steep pay hike and increased retirement benefits. They ransacked the factory and smashed some machinery, leading to police action," he said. "Police fired rubber bullets from shot guns to break up the protest after they became violent. One of the workers was injured and later died in hospital. It was not clear whether he was shot by rubber bullet," he said. At least 20 people were also injured - at least half of them by rubber bullets, he added.
The protest was first of its kind in the country's booming drug industry. Bangladesh has nearly 200 pharmaceutical firms, meeting around 95 percent of domestic demand for medicine.
Despite the boom, many workers say they are not paid well and receive poor retirement benefits. Last month at least four garment workers were shot dead by police in the country's southeastern port city of Chittagong. Bangladesh's 4,500 garment factories, which produce clothes for retailers such as Wal-Mart, H&M and Levi Strauss, pay their three million workers a minimum 3,000 taka (43 dollars) a month.
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