The government on Sunday announced upward revision of the new wage structure of readymade garment workers in face of weeklong labour unrest in the export-oriented apparel sector.Commerce minister Tipu Munshi and state minister for labour Monnujan Sufian jointly announced that the wages of apparel workers from grade I to grade VI would be increased and the workers would get the increased amounts from December, 2018 with retrospective effect. ‘We have removed the anomalies found in the newly announced wage structure for the RMG workers and all parties including factory owners and labour leaders helped us to resolve the issue,’ Tipu Munshi told reporters. He said that the decision for upward revision of wages for grade I-VI came after a direct instruction from prime minister Sheikh Hasina. As per the new announcement, basic wage for the workers of grade I would be increased by Tk 498 to Tk 10,938 from Tk 10,440 in the gazette notification of 2018.The gross wage for the grade would now be increased to Tk 18,257 from Tk 17,510.Following a meeting with the factory owners and labour leaders at the labour ministry, the two ministers made the announcement and requested agitating workers to join work from today. At least 10 labour leaders were present at the ministry during the announcement. In the upward revision, basic wage for grade II would be increased by Tk 524 to Tk 9,044 from Tk 8,520 in the gazette of 2018 while the gross wage would go up to Tk 15,416 from Tk 14,630. For grade III, basic wage would be increased by Tk 170 to Tk 5,330 from Tk 5,160 and gross pay would be increased to Tk 9,845 from Tk 9,590. Basic pay for grade IV would be increased by Tk 68 to Tk 4,998 from Tk 4,930 while the gross pay would be increased to Tk 9,347 from Tk 9,245.In the new announcement the basic wage for the grade V has been proposed to increase by Tk 13 to Tk 4,683 from Tk 4,670 in the gazette notification of 2018 while the gross wage would be increased to Tk 8,875 from Tk 8,855.For the grade VI, basic wage would be increased by Tk 10 to Tk 4,380 from Tk 4,370 and gross pay would be increased to Tk 8,420 from Tk 8,405.
The basic and gross wages for the grade VII remained unchanged.Fifty per cent of the basic pay as house rent, Tk 600 as medical allowance, Tk 350 as travel allowance and Tk 900 as food allowance would also remain unchanged for the workers of all grades.Earlier, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association threatened to shut factories for an indefinite time if the workers, who continued agitation for seventh day on Sunday, did not join work by today. The government in November, 2018 announced new wage structure for seven grades of apparel workers increasing the minimum wage to Tk 8,000 from Tk 5,300. Workers alleged that the wages in other grades did not increase proportionately and they took to the streets rejecting the new wage structure.In the face of violent protests in the labour-intensive industrial belts of Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayanganj and in Dhaka city, the government on January 9 formed a 20-member committee incorporating representatives from trade unions and factory owners to review the wage structure for the RMG workers.The committee was asked to submit their report with recommendations to address the grievances regarding the new wage structure within one month.The government on Monday announced the upward revision of wages based on the recommendations of the committee.The commerce minister said that workers had every right to observe peaceful demonstrations for their demands but vandalism of factories and vehicles on roads was completely unacceptable.He said that government would take stern actions against the people involved with the vandalism in factories.Monnujan Sufian urged the workers to join work, saying that government would resolve all their problems. She said that the prime minister on Saturday night directed for upward revision of workers’ wages for I-V grades. The state minister hoped that this announcement would put an end to the unrest and encourage the workers to return to work.Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, demanded safety and security of their industry.He also said that the government should bring the culprits involved with vandalism to book. BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman on Sunday warned that the agitating apparel workers would not get their wages and factories would be closed for an indefinite period under section 13/1 of the labour law if they (workers) did not join their works by Monday.At a press conference held in BGMEA conference room in the capital, he termed the workers’ agitation illogical and alleged that a section of perpetrators both at home and abroad might have involvement in the agitation. On Sunday, several hundred workers from different factories at Ashulia, on the outskirts of the capital, demonstrated for wage hike for the seventh consecutive day except the weekend on Friday.At least 20 workers were injured in clashes with police at Ashulia as the agitated workers tried to block traffic on Dhaka-Tangail Highway at Zamgora and Narashinghapur to press their demand.Superintendent of Dhaka industrial police Sana Shaminur Rahman said that amid unrest the management of over 50 factories were forced to shut their unit for the day.Workers from a number of garment factories in Savar and Gazipur also demonstrated on the same demand.The workers also demanded justice for their fellow Sumon Miah, who was killed allegedly in police firing on Tuesday at Savar during the protest.
Additional superintendent of Gazipur industrial police Shaheb Ali Pathan said that workers at different spots tried to block roads and demonstrated since morning.Police said so far seven cases were filed with different police stations against hundreds of workers in the Gazipur industrial belt.Bangladesh’s earnings from readymade garment export fetched $30.61 billion in the financial year 2017-18 or almost 83 per cent of the country’s total export earnings.Bangladesh is the second highest RMG exporters in the global market and the major export destinations are the US, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Canada.More than 40 lakh workers work for at least 3,500 garment factories located across Bangladesh.
