TU leaders demand Tk 5,000 national minimum wage
Trade union leaders yesterday demanded that the government fix the national minimum wage at Tk 5,000 given the rising prices of most essentials and services that had left the lower income groups in trouble in the recent years.
They were speaking at a roundtable titled “National minimum wage should not be fixed at a level lower than poverty line” organised by Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad at Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the capital.
“The labour force in the country is passing through a critical time as prices of essentials have gone up several times but their wage has not increased accordingly,” said Roy Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of Jatiya Sramik League.
He presented the keynote paper at the discussion.
Low wages in various sectors of the country are forcing the labourers and their families to have a low intake causing malnutrition. It will bring about health and social disasters in future unless it is addressed immediately, he said.
Presently, the minimum wage under the government pay scale is Tk 4,100 and in the readymade garment sector Tk 1,662.50. Most of the sectors have not yet introduced the minimum wage.
Millions of children are being forced either to beg in the streets or work for bread, and its consequence is never good, Ramesh said.
Therefore, it is urgent that the government pays attention to the issue, he said.
A four-member family needs a minimum of Tk 15,498 meaning if two members are capable of earning, they each should get at least Tk 7,749, he added.
“Given the overall economic condition and employers' ability we demand Tk 5,000 as minimum wage,” he said.
Besides, labourers should also receive annual dearness allowance to keep pace with inflation and it should be adjusted with the basic wage every two years, he said.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies Assistant Executive Director Sultan Uddin Ahmed said a reasonable national minimum wage is very vital to maintaining a socio-economic balance.
“It should not be a matter of great importance for only the workers but for political leadership too,” he said.
Labour leader Zafrul Hasan said such an arrangement could be the best means to eradicate poverty.
Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad Coordinator Wazedul Islam Khan said labour is an essential part of production, but still none provides adequate price for it.
The owners, however, cannot pay less for other factors of production. This must be ended, he noted.
Bangladesh Mukta Sramik Federation President Mujibur Rahman Bhuiyan chaired the roundtable. Trade union leaders Mesbahuddin Ahmed, Lutfar Rahman, Badur Raja Hawlader, Abdul Matin Master and Razekuzzaman Raton, among others, spoke at the discussion.
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