Ensure fair wage for shipbreaking workers
It is frustrating to see shipbreaking workers breaking their backs day after day, yet being consistently denied a living wage. According to a report in this daily, owners of shipbreaking yards have been ignoring the wage board for workers for six years, paying a fraction of the salary they are owed. In the current economic situation where inflated prices of essentials have exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis, denying them the minimum wage is totally unacceptable.
The wage board for shipbreaking workers was announced in 2018, with a four-grade wage structure ranging from Tk 16,000 to Tk 31,750. However, none of the yard owners have abided by this structure ever since. Under the current payment system, a ship cutter gets a monthly wage of Tk 12,000-13,000, while an assistant cutter gets Tk 9,000-10,000. These amounts can barely pay for house rent, utilities, and basic food; workers cannot afford basic medication, education for their children, and even proper nutrition.
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Yard owners have reportedly been hiring workers on contract to avoid the wage board, which is in direct violation of the Labour Act. Curiously, none of these owners have faced any legal repercussions in all these years. They don't even pay heed to warnings by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) to implement the wage board. How is it that the owners can get away scot-free with such flagrant violations while the workers are forced to survive on meagre income without any help whatsoever?
Moreover, on the ground, their safety often gets zero preference amid insufficient supply of protective gear and proper tools as well as poor access to emergency medical care. As a result, accidents that could otherwise be avoided often turn fatal. On top of that, the workers don't even get paid properly. This cycle of abuse must stop. Workers in shipbreaking yards, RMG factories, and other industries have been exploited for too long; it's high time their welfare was made a top priority by a government that emerged out of the sacrifices of ordinary people including workers. The government must ensure full implementation of the wage board without delay. And necessary adjustments must be made to the wage structure taking the current inflation into consideration, so that workers get a decent wage and can live a life of dignity.
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