Garment workers’ rights bodies at separate rallies in the city on Friday demanded Tk16, 000 per month to be fixed as minimum wages of the apparel workers. Garment Workers’ Trade Union Centre and Jago Bangladesh Garment Sramik Federation held separate protest rallies in front of the National Press Club, where they raised the demand. GWTUC president and garment labour Mantu Ghosh said that the government implemented the national pay scale for the government employees, but no step was taken for formation of wage commission for the workers. Referring to the present minimum wage of the garment workers, Ghosh said that workers were in a shamble to run their families with the minimum wage Tk 5,300 per month. ‘Minimum wage should be Tk16,000 per month with basic wage at Tk 10,000’, he demanded.KM Ruhul Amin, general secretary of the organisation, said that his organisation would wage movements if the government and factory owners did not pay heed to workers’ demands. Central leaders of the rights body Joly Talukder, Monzur Moin and others spoke at the rally. Jago Bangladesh Garment Sramik Foundation president Bahrine Sultan Bahar also raised the same demand. ‘The festival allowances, and wages of the workers be given within Ramadan 20, 25 respectively’ he added. The general secretary of the organisation Mohammad Mostafa and central leader Nur Alam addressed the rally among others.
