Trade union centre demands Tk 35,000 minimum wage for garment workers, calls for immediate wage board
The Garment Sramik Trade Union Centre has demanded that the minimum monthly wage for garment workers be set at 35,000 taka. The organisation also demanded the immediate formation of a wage board to announce and implement a new wage structure.
The demands were raised on Friday (30 October) at a rally and human chain held in front of the National Press Club in the capital.
Speakers at the rally said that considering the current market situation, the cost of living, the productivity of the garment industry and the workers' contribution to the products made, the minimum wage cannot in any way be less than 35,000 taka.
The speakers said workers cannot meet their families' basic needs even by working extra hours and overtime. In this situation, re-fixing the wage with the workers' standard of living in mind is essential.
The speakers also said garment workers' wages are determined through bargaining in a legal process. Workers therefore have to raise their demand clearly and in an organised way.
Recalling past experience, the speakers said that during the wage fixing in 2023 the workers' side had demanded a minimum wage of 25,000 taka, but in the end it was set at 12,500 taka. They called on workers to be united and organised this time, learning from that experience, to realise their demand.
Those who spoke at the rally included Abdullah Al Kafi, adviser to the Garment Sramik Trade Union Centre and general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the organisation's vice-president Joli Talukder, and assistant general secretary Manjur Moin, among others.
