New minimum wage within one to two months, PM says at Bagerhat rally, alleging unrest is being stirred from across the border

A new minimum wage for garment workers will be set within the next one to two months, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said. He made the announcement at a roadside rally at Katakhali Mor on the Khulna-Mongla highway in Bagerhat at noon on Thursday (5 November).

At the rally, the prime minister alleged that, under the cover of workers' demands, strings are being pulled from across the border to create unrest in the country. He said no working person or worker brother or sister could ever damage their own industrial establishment, yet a quarter is going into factories and carrying out vandalism and destructive activities.

The prime minister said: 'The factories built in this country over the past 50 years are one of the main sources of Bangladesh's foreign currency earnings. Lakhs of mothers, sisters and working people work in these establishments. These factories are the country's wealth, the people's wealth.'

He added: 'We have seen in newspapers and media that some unruly persons are vandalising factories and trying to destroy industrial establishments. I believe no working brother or sister or worker can ever harm industry.'

Pointing towards the Awami League government, he alleged: 'A quarter could not change the fate of the country's people in the past 15-16 years. They took away people's voting rights and looted the people's money and wealth and smuggled it abroad. Those who were forced to flee the country in the face of a mass uprising are now pulling strings from across the border and trying to create a chaotic situation in the country.'

On wages, the prime minister said: 'Our worker brothers and sisters have some demands about wages, and the government is aware of them. A wage board has already been formed to consider and review their demands, and the board has started work. Inshallah, a new minimum wage will be determined within the next one to two months, so that our worker brothers and sisters can live well.'

The rally, chaired by Bagerhat district BNP leader Barrister Zakir Hossain, was attended by Shipping, Road Transport and Bridges and Railways Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, State Minister for Shipping Md Rajib Ahsan, State Minister for Environment and Climate Change Dr Sheikh Faridul Islam, district BNP leaders Somnath Dey and Kapil Krishna Mandal, and local BNP and affiliated organisation leaders.

After the rally, the prime minister visited the shrine of Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali (Rh), where he took part in prayers.