Govt announces Tk 12,500 as min wage for RMG workers
Staff Reporter :
Removing all speculations, the government on Tuesday announced Tk 12,500 as minimum wages for workers of the country’s readymade garment (RMG) industry, but trade union leaders immediately rejected the new pay.
Denouncing the government decision, the leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre (GWTUC) announced fresh protest rallies on Friday, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
In an official handout, the GWTUC President Advocate Montu Ghosh demanded for revising the announced minimum wages.
State Minister for Labour Monnujan Sufian formally declared the minimum salary for the garment workers following the 6th meeting of the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) at a press conference at its office in Dhaka.
The wage has been hiked by 56 per cent from Tk8,000 following the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the State Minister said.
However, there has been no decision on providing rations for RMG workers. But the government is planning to introduce family cards for them, the State Minister added.
She also urged the protesting RMG workers to resume work.
Earlier, the MWB finalised the amount in line with the revised proposal of the factory owners and it is almost half short of what the protesting workers have been demanding.
Following the meeting, an RMG workers’ representative Sirajul Islam Rony, said, “In light of the reality of the RMG industry and the prime minister’s instructions, the workers will accept the board’s decision.”
Awaj Foundation Executive Director Nazma Akhter has said the unions and workers are “utterly disappointed” over the new wage.
In 2018, the wage was $95. If the last five years’ increment is calculated, the amount is in fact far less than what it should be.
“The factory owners have surely benefitted through this owing to the dollar exchange rate,” she said.
Urging the factory owners and the Prime Minister, Nazma said, “Revise the minimum wage for RMG workers once more for the sake of their survival and livelihood amid rising living costs due to inflation.”
Earlier on the day, Siddiqur Rahman, the representative of the apparel factory owners to the minimum wage board set up by the government, proposed the new minimum wage rate at a meeting of the office of the board in the capital’s Segunbagicha.
The garments sector – the jewel in Bangladesh’s export crown, with exports reaching over $46.99 billion in the fiscal year 2023 – have been ravaged by protests in recent days.
The workers were protesting for a minimum wage of Tk23,000, despite efforts by the government, workers’ leaders, and owners’ associations to normalise the situation. On October 21, workers demanded that their minimum wage be increased from the existing Tk8,000 to Tk20,390 while the owners have proposed to increase it to Tk10,400.
On October 30, at least two people were killed and about 40 injured in massive clashes between police and ready-made garment workers in several industrial areas in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur.
