The minimum wage for the RMG workers has been fixed at Tk 12,500. This decision was taken on Tuesday (Nov 7) in the 6th meeting of the Minimum Wage Board formed to increase wages of the RMG workers. Later, State Minister for Labor and Employment Monnujan Sufian announced the minimum wage for garment workers at a press conference held at Bangladesh Secretariat, local media reported.
Monnujan Sufian said, We're announcing this new wage following instructions from the Prime Minister. The minimum wage will increase by 56.25 percent. It will increase from Tk 8,000 to Tk 12,500 with annual 5% increment.
The State Minister said that the new wage structure would be effective from next December. She said as per the recommendations of the wage board, the minimum wage has been announced taking into account the suggestions of the owners and workers adding that the RMG workers have long been demanding for raise in their wages.
Monnujan also requested the owners to open up the factories and urged the workers to return to work, saying, "I will urge the owners to open the factories, I'll also request the workers to join their work... The 5 percent increment remains in place."
Earlier, in the meeting of the wage board held at Segunbagicha in the capital, the owners proposed setting the minimum wage at Tk 12,500. The proposal was finalized with the consent of all parties. Siddiqur Rahman, the former president of BGMEA, was present at the meeting as the owners' representative while Sirajul Islam Roni was present as the workers' representative.
Earlier in December, 2018, the government announced new wages for the garment workers for five years. Accordingly, the workers were demanding for announcing the new wages by Nov 30.
The government formed the Minimum Wage Board last April to fix the minimum wages for garment workers. In the fourth meeting of this board on Oct 22, the representative of the workers proposed a minimum wage of Tk 20,393 while the owners offered minimum wage of Tk 10,400.
Currently the minimum wage for the RMG workers is Tk 8,000. Garment workers have been protesting for the last two weeks demanding wage hike.
