Government forms new wage board to increase garment workers’ salaries

The government has formed a new six-member wage board to increase the wages of garment workers. Representatives of the government, factory owners and workers have been finalised. The Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a notification to this effect today, Sunday.

The wage board is headed by Senior District and Sessions Judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman as its chairman. The owners’ representatives on the board are ABM Shamsuddin, director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and Asif Ayub, joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation.

The workers’ representatives are Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), and Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal. Professor Mosleh Uddin Ahmed of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Dhaka has been appointed as the board’s independent representative.

Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), told Prothom Alo, “We have been informed about the formation of the wage board. We hope the government will begin the board’s activities soon.”

Meanwhile, garment workers in the capital and its surrounding areas have been staging protests for several days, demanding a new wage structure. Workers at readymade garment factories began demonstrating in the morning by blocking the road at the Mirpur-10 intersection in the capital, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000. Clashes broke out between workers and police around noon. Workers also took to the streets in Gazipur.

Labour and Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury announced the formation of a wage board for garment workers at an event Saturday.

The minister made the announcement at a press briefing following a meeting with representatives of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) at the Department of Labour headquarters in Bijoynagar area of the capital. He said there was no reason for workers to continue their protests under the circumstances.