Bangladesh to increase garment sector’s minimum wage

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Bangladesh’s garment industry wage board said on Nov 4 it had agreed to raise the minimum wage for workers in the key export sector, following five days of protests and sporadic clashes.Thousands of garment workers have been protesting since Oct 31, demanding higher pay, hurling bricks and erecting barricades, while police have fired tear gas to disperse crowds.“The workers have been demanding a wage increase by December so that they can receive their revised salaries in January,” said Babul Akter, the workers’ representative on the board.“The representative of the factory owners on the wage board agreed, too. We agreed on this point... We are working together.”The South Asian nation of 170 million people is the world’s second-biggest garment exporter behind China, producing clothes for major international brands.The garment industry generates around four-fifths of Bangladesh’s export earnings, worth up to US$38 billion (S$48.6 billion), and employs more than four million people.Workers say the rising cost of food, housing, transport and healthcare has eroded their purchasing power in a country with 8% inflation.They are demanding a minimum monthly wage of 30,000 taka (S$310) – a 140% increase from the current 12,500 taka.The board, comprising representatives of employers and workers, was set up by the government on Nov 1 to negotiate a pay rise. It did not specify the size of the increase.“We will complete our work by December so that workers can receive their increased salaries by January,” said ABM Shamsuddin, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association representative on the board.As the board held talks on Nov 4 morning, protests continued in major industrial centres including Gazipur, Mirpur, Narayanganj and Savar. AFP