RMG workers demand minimum wage Tk 25,000

Staff Reporter :
The leaders of the readymade garment (RMG) workers’ rights movement have demanded a wage board immediately and minimum wage Tk 25,000 for garment workers.
The RMG leaders and workers have submitted a memorandum to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to meet their 7-point demand including 60 per cent dearness allowance after holding a protest rally in front of the BGMEA building at Uttara’s Diabari on Sunday noon.
After the rally, the RMG leaders met with the BGMEA Additional Secretary Rafiqul Islam and Mansoor Khaled. They (RMG) handed over a memorandum and discussed the relevance of wage hike with them.
Earlier, a protest rally was held with labour leader and coordinator of the rights movement Shahidul Islam Sabuj in the chair.
Among others, Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, Taslima Akhtar, Raju Ahmed, Masud Reza, Shabnam Hafiz and Biplab Bhattacharya also spoke in the rally.
The RMG leaders explained their demands and the necessity for hiking their wages in the rally. They said that the RMG is the highest export earning sector of the country and this industry survives on 40 lakh workers. Acute crisis has come down in the life of the RMG workers due to rising the prices of daily commodities because of high inflation amid international volatile situation, they said
According to the RMG leaders, it is impossible for the worker to live on a salary of Tk 8000 as the spiraling price hike of foodstuff and fuel.
The leaders demanded of the appropriate authority for formation of a wage board immediately and fix a minimum wage of Tk 25,000.
Since the announcement of new wages for the RMG workers in 2018, the price of rice increased by 17 per cent, lentil by 96 per cent, flour by 72 per cent, edible oil by 78 per cent, salt by 40 per cent and egg by 50 per cent in the last four years, they said.
Quoting the Export Development Bureau report, the RMG leaders said that the garment sector is doing well after overcoming the coronavirus pandemic situation.
Bangladesh’s overall exports declined, but the income in the ready-made garment sector expanded, EPB report said adding that though the overall export earnings fell in October, but the growth in the garment sector was 3 per cent in the same period.
Exports of the garment sector in October were $3.67 billion, which was $3.65 billion in October 2021-22. According to EPB data, 83 percent of the goods exported in the first 4 months of the last financial year 2021-22 were RMG.
According to the RMG worker’s leaders, the garment sector has managed to continue its development amid the Russia-Ukraine situation despite pressure on the overall economy.
They observed that both the RMG workers and industry will suffer if worker’s purchasing power are not increased considering the present situation.
They also demanded of the appropriate authority to announce dearness allowance and introduce rationing system for the RMG workers until formation of the wage board.