Existing RMG sector minimum wage too paltry: Experts

Staff Reporter :
The current minimum wage in the country’s readymade garment (RMG) sector is insufficient for workers to live a healthy life, according to experts.

They also said that the existing minimum salary of Tk8, 000 was set five years ago, in 2018, and is no longer adequate for RMG workers – numbering around 4.5 million.

They were speaking at a session on “Securing Green Transition of the Textile and Readymade Garments Sector in Bangladesh” held by the Centre for Policy Debate (CPD) in partnership with the Swedish Embassy in Bangladesh on Tuesday in the capital.

At the event, Charles Whiteley, ambassador, and head of delegation of the EU to Bangladesh said that it had been five years since the last wage revision in the garment sector, where the minimum pay was fixed at Tk 8,000.

“By any stretch of the imagination, it isn’t a very healthy way to live on that salary, particularly if you have children to feed,” he added.

Moreover, he also stressed that companies and consumers share in the responsibility for addressing the issues faced by workers along with the government and called for real engagement and collaboration.

“So, the onus is not only on the government or the industry, it’s also on brands and buyers and there are excellent examples of real engagement and partnership amongst brands,” he added.

Echoing the EU Ambassador, the Netherlands’ Charge D’Affaires in Bangladesh Thijs Woudstra, said that Bangladesh should move away from the “low wage trap” after graduating from the LDC status.

There are no alternatives to improving working conditions and wages, he added saying that a comprehensive reassessment of labour policies in the sector is needed.

Dr Shamsul Alam, state minister for the Ministry of Planning, was present as chief guest while Ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh Alexandra von Linde and BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim also spoke as the guest of honour.

The session was chaired by CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun while Research Fellow Muntaseer Kamal presented the keynote paper.