Garment wage board sits for first time as workers press for pay rise

The minimum wage board for the garment sector has begun its first meeting as workers keep up their protests over pay.

The meeting got under way at 11:25am Wednesday in the board’s meeting room in Segunbagicha, with Chairman Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman, a senior district judge, presiding.

Under the Labour Act, the board will recommend minimum wage rates for garment workers and employees.

The government formed the board on Nov 1 while reconstituting the national minimum wage board, amid unrest in the sector.

Employers are represented by ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation, is representing workers.

Employers and workers’ representatives work with the board in setting an industry’s minimum wage.

Section 139 of the Labour Act lets the government consider fixing a minimum wage on a request from employers, workers or both.

This year’s amendment to the law cut the wage review period from five years to three.

Workers have been agitating in Dhaka for days, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000. Garment workers clashed with police in Mirpur on Tuesday during a road blockade.

The last minimum wage was announced in November 2023 and took effect the following month, so the current rate expires next month.

It raised the minimum from Tk 8,000 to Tk 12,500, a rise of 56.25 percent.

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