Wage hike for workers to be matched with productivity

File photo of construction workers
File photo of construction workers

The government has declared a new wage scale for state-owned factory workers in line with recommendations of the National Wages and Productivity Commission-2015.

According to a Prothom Alo report on 3 July, the new wage structure was approved on Monday at a regular cabinet meeting led by the prime minister.

This is good news for state-owned industry workers.

The commission had earlier recommended pay-hike for government employees and they are receiving the enhanced salary. The wage increment will be implemented retrospectively from July 2015 and July 2016.

The workers' wage have been almost doubled.

Funds for the enhanced salaries and wages of the public administration officials and -employees as well as the state-owned industry workers will come from the taxpayers.

The pay-hike essentially brings forward the issue of services provided and workers' production capacity.

The state-owned factories are in poor condition and incurring losses. The taxpayers bear the burden of the losses every year.

Increased losses loom large if productivity is not increased in line with doubled wages.

Wages cannot be justified unless productivity is increased.

It's not sustainable to run an institution on subsidy for years.

The doubled wages should serve as an incentive for the workers to enhance their productivity. Overall management must be improved too.

The losses must not continue. The industries must show profit. 

The problems in the sector must be identified and resolved. Effective steps are required to address management inefficiency, system loss, irregularites and corruption.

Accountability is a must. Lack of accountability gives way to corruption, irregularities and negligence.

Political influence and lobbying often hold back the industries from improvement. These must be checked too.

With the increase in the state-sector wages, the wages of workers in the private sector must also be given due consideration.

Cost of living has risen and inflation has hit everyone hard. It's time to redefine minimum wages for workers in the private sector in line with the state-owned sector. This should be given due importance.