DHAKA - Bangladeshi garment manufacturers closed 150 plants "indefinitely" on Saturday, as police announced sweeping charges against 11,000 workers in connection with violent protests seeking a higher minimum wage, according to authorities.

Bangladesh's 3,500 garment factories provide many of the world's leading brands, including Levi's, Zara, and H&M, accounting for roughly 85 percent of the country's $55 billion in annual exports.

According to authorities, violent protests for better pay erupted last month, with at least three workers slain and more than 70 workplaces destroyed or damaged.

On Tuesday, a government-appointed body hiked the sector's wage by 56.25 percent to 12,500 taka, but garment workers rejected the increase, instead requesting a minimum wage of 23,000 taka.

On Thursday, 15,000 workers clashed with police on a major highway, ransacking a leading company as well as a dozen other industries.

"Police have filed cases against 11,000 unidentified people in connection with the Tusuka garment factory attack," said police inspector Mosharraf Hossain to AFP.

Police authorities told AFP that 150 factories had shut down in the main industrial cities of Ashulia and Gazipur, both north of Dhaka, as manufacturers feared more strikes when the Bangladeshi working week resumed on Saturday.

"The manufacturers invoked Section 13/1 of the labour laws and closed 130 factories in Ashulia indefinitely citing illegal strikes," Sarwar Alam, the manufacturing hub's police chief, told AFP.