Second meeting ends without concrete decision

The second meeting of the board set up to revise the minimum wage for more than four million garment workers in Bangladesh ended today without any specific decision.

Held at the office of the Minimum Wage Board in Dhaka, the second meeting discussed various global and domestic issues, the current situation in the apparel sector, the market prices of basic commodities, and the prices of garment items in the international markets.

No proposal was submitted either by the owners or workers' representative in the meeting as the board has decided to visit three factories to hear about workers' opinions about the salary.

"I hope to submit the wage proposal in the next meeting to be held next month," said Sirajul Islam Rony, president of the Bangladesh National Garment Workers Employees League. He represents workers on the new board.

Rony also said workers' views are important before placing any formal proposal on the monthly wage to the board.

"The views and opinions of other trade unions will also be considered."

Workers' basic salary, house rent, service benefits, various allowances, workers' pension benefits, and food intake will be taken into account in framing the monthly wage structure, Rony told The Daily Star over the phone.

So far, the majority of the unions in the garment sector have demanded a minimum monthly wage of Tk 23,000.

Md Siddiqur Rahman, owners' representative on the board, said both workers' representative and owners' representative are expected to place their proposal in the next meeting.

Rahman said the board is taking more time as it is observing the market situation of the apparel sector since it has been facing the severe fallout of Covid-19 and Russia Ukraine war.

The board has until December this year to announce a new wage structure.

Rahman said the main markets of locally made garment items are going through high inflationary pressure. But if the business situation improves a bit, a good hike in the salary may be possible.

In April, the government formed the board, which is headed by Liaquet Ali Molla. It came because workers have been passing through a difficult time owing to high inflationary pressure.

The current minimum wage for a garment worker is Tk 8,000 per month, which was fixed in December 2018.