Garment workers rally at Press Club demanding minimum wage of Tk 32,000
The BLF Garment Workers Unity Forum has demanded that the minimum wage for garment workers be set at Tk 32,000. The organisation also called for the wage board to be reconstituted.
The demand was raised on Friday at a rally held in front of the National Press Club. After the rally, a procession marched from the Press Club to Paltan intersection.
Former lawmaker and Bangladesh Labour Federation central president Shah Mohammad Abu Zafar attended the rally as chief guest. Former Labour Reform Commission member and Bangladesh Labour Federation general secretary Sakil Akhtar Chowdhury spoke as a special speaker.
Sakil Akhtar Chowdhury said that, considering current market prices, it has become difficult for garment workers to live on a minimum wage of Tk 12,500. Amid rising prices of essentials, he described that level of pay as amounting to discrimination against workers.
He demanded that the wage board be reconstituted immediately and the minimum wage fixed at Tk 32,000. He described the demand as consistent with the reality of today's market.
Chief speaker Shah Mohammad Abu Zafar said that while many countries have a garment industry, workers in no other country receive wages as low as Bangladeshi workers do. He called on factory owners and the government to take swift steps to end that disparity.
Speakers at the rally recalled that in 2023 the Minimum Wage Board under the Ministry of Labour and Employment had set the garment workers' minimum wage at Tk 12,500. Workers have had to manage on that rate ever since.
They also said that under Section 139(6) of the Labour Act, the wage board for the garment sector is supposed to be reconstituted every three years. On that basis, they demanded steps this year itself to re-form the board and fix a new wage.
The rally was chaired by Md. Sarwar Hossain, president of the Garment Workers Unity Federation and convener of the BLF Garment Workers Unity Forum. Several leaders of workers' organisations addressed the gathering under his chairmanship.
Other speakers included Selina Shely, general secretary of the Janaswadhin Garment Workers Federation, Shamima Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garments Labour Congress, Abdul Kadir, organising secretary of the Knit Dyeing Garment Workers Employees Federation, and Maruf Hossain, president of the Janata Garment Workers Federation, among others.
The garment sector is one of the main sources of Bangladesh's export earnings. Debate and movements over workers' wages in this sector are long-standing. As market prices have risen, workers' organisations have consistently raised the demand for higher wages.
Speakers warned that if the demand is not accepted, further programmes of movement may be announced. For now, their programme will remain focused on reconstituting the wage board and setting a Tk 32,000 minimum wage, they said.
It now remains to be seen what decision the government and the owners' side take on the demand. Speakers noted that the legal timeframe for reconstituting the wage board ends this year, so they believe the matter needs a speedy settlement.
