Board chief asks workers, owners to narrow gap

The chief of a wage board formed to review salaries of more than 4.4 million garment workers of the country yesterday asked both representatives of owners and workers to narrow the gap in pay hikes they proposed and reach consensus as soon as possible.

Earlier, the owners' representative, Siddiqur Rahman, also the president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), proposed an increase of 20 percent to bring the monthly salary to Tk 6,360.

The workers' representative, Shamsun Nahar Bhuiyan, proposed Tk 12,020: Tk 7,500 as basic salary and Tk 4,520 for transport, house rent and other costs.

“Both the representatives assured the board that they would take necessary measures through discussions among the respective sector leaders,” the board chairman, Syed Aminul Islam, told journalists following its fourth meeting.

Hopefully the board will be able to attain a fruitful result on the review in the next meeting on September 12, he said at the board's Topkhana Road office in the capital.

Labour rights groups staged demonstration in front of yesterday's meeting venue and chanted slogans demanding Tk 16,000 as the minimum wage.

Aminul said the government extended the board's existence by two more months till October 17. The BGMEA president said the new wage would come into effect from December.