Leaders of the Garments Sramik Front at a rally in the city on Thursday demanded increasing wage of the garment workers immediately. The leaders and activists of the organisation held a rally in front of the National Press Club and handed over a memorandum to the state minister for labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu to press for their demand. The memorandum claimed increasing minimum wage of the garment workers Tk. 15,000 per month, saying the workers could not maintain their families with the minimum wage Tk. 5,300 per month in the face of price hike of the essential commodities. Addressing the rally, Jahedul Haque Milu, president of Samajtantrik Sramik Front, said that the government had already increased salary of the government employees, but took no steps for increasing the wages of the workers. He called on the government to form a wage commission for increasing wages of the workers immediately. Ahsan Habib Bulbul, president of Garments Sramik Front, announced that they would hold a national convention in the capital on April 22 to take up the next action programme to realise their demands. Chaired by Ahsan Habib Bulbul, the rally was addressed, among others, by general secretary Selim Mahmud, vice president Khalequzzaman Lipon, central leader Jahangir Alam and Saiful Alam. The rally was followed by a mach towards labour ministry but police stopped the marchers. A four-member delegation led by Ahsan Habib Bulbul handed over the memorandum to the labour ministry.
