Tk 25,000 Minimum Wage: RMG workers to continue demo till demand met

Workers involved in the country's ready-made garments sector will continue their movement unless a minimum wage of Tk 25,000 is not declared by November 1, said labour leaders yesterday.

The minimum wage of Tk 10,400 proposed by the factory owners is unacceptable, the leaders, under the banner of Garments Shramik Samhati, said at a demonstration held in front of Jatiya Press Club.

If the ongoing inflation is taken into account, the present minimum wage of Tk 8,000 stands at Tk 11,000, which is lower than the one proposed by factory owners, they said, adding that RMG workers in Gazipur and other areas will wage agitations if their demand for Tk 25,000 minimum wage is not met.

IndustriAll Bangladesh Council (IBC), which consists of 18 labour federations, in a statement said they are firm in their demands for the minimum wage to be at least Tk 23,000, with a 65 percent basic wage and an annual 10 percent increment, among others.

IBC also said while they do not support stoppage of work, or vandalism of any sort, workers are being harassed and intimidated by local goons hired by the factory owners.

All the labour rights organisations also demanded that state repression against the workers waging movement for higher minimum wage must be stopped.

"Even the products that workers buy from TCB trucks have seen price hike in certain cases. Workers are not being able to afford the minimum nutrition required to survive," said Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki.