Labour leaders demand apparel workers’ wage revision 

Trade union leaders have urged the new BGMEA board to take steps for revising upward wages of apparel workers, considering soaring commodity prices.

RMG workers' wages in Bangladesh are the lowest in the world, that is why workers are facing hardship in maintaining their livelihood, the leaders of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) said after paying a courtesy call on the newly-elected board members on Monday at its Uttara office. 

After the meeting, Kutubuddin Ahmed, former president and an executive member at IBC, said, "We requested the new BGMEA board to take an initiative to readjust wages of apparel sector workers as the current wage board was declared three years ago." 

A number of factories had shut down during the pandemic and a large number of workers lost their jobs without any service benefits, he noted. 

The apparel industry is enjoying a double-digit growth this year, and it is now time to increase workers' wages as prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing. 

Kutubuddin said, "We have discussed some issues and agreed to continue such discussion once in a month." 

In November 2018, the government published a gazette notification, fixing Tk8,000 as the minimum wage of garment workers.

The new pay structure was effective from 1 December 2018.

A grade-7 worker gets Tk4,100 in basic salary apart from Tk2,050 in house rent, Tk600 for medical purposes, Tk350 for transport and Tk950 as food subsidy.

A trainee or apprentice worker receives a total of Tk5,975 per month, according to the last wage board.