Govt raises RMG workers’ minimum wage to Tk 12,500

The government has fixed the minimum wage for readymade garment (RMG) workers at Tk 12,500, in compliance with the proposal made by factory owners.

A gazette notification will be issued within the next 14 days, and it will take effect from 1 December, said state minister for labour and employment Monnujan Sufian at the secretariat.

The decision came at a meeting of the minimum wage board in the capital's Segunbagicha area on Tuesday afternoon.

Liakat Ali Molla, chairman of the wage board, presided over the meeting, attended by BGMEA president Faruque Hassan, BKMEA president Selim Osman, and representatives of both owners and workers.

In the face of a movement by workers, the factory owners proposed the minimum wage, which is 56.25 per cent higher than the existing wage.

After the wage board meeting, state minister Monnujan Sufian disclosed the new wage scale to the media around 3:30 pm.

The new pay scale will consist of five grades, with around 63 per cent -- Tk 7,875 -- of the minimum wage would be considered as the basic. Workers will receive wages under the new scale in January.

Earlier, the authorities had raised the minimum wage for RMG workers by 51 per cent to Tk 8,000 in 2018.

Amid spiraling commodity prices, workers have been protesting in Dhaka throughout the last week, demanding a wage increase.