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Download PDF While workers organisations rejected the proposed pay structure for the garment sector, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday sought opinion from its members about the possible impact of the new wage.
Different workers’ organisations representing the readymade garment (RMG) sector yesterday urged the National Wage Board to review its proposal and warned of a tougher movement if the minimum wage is not revised to an acceptable level.
The organisations brought out processions at Muktangon in the capital and tried to move towards the wage commission office to lay siege to it but police stopped them at Topkhana crossing.
“Many owners will be forced to close their factories if the proposed pay scale for the garment workers is implemented,” BGMEA President SM Fazlul Huq told reporters yesterday.
A few days ago, when announcing new structure for the RMG workers seemed imminent, BGMEA asked its members to remain alert and take steps so that the factory owners can handle their workers in the face of any type of ‘provocation from outside’.
Rejecting the proposed pay structure, the garment workers’ leader Mosharefa Mishu at a procession at Muktangon said minimum wage below Tk 3,000 will not be acceptable.
She urged the wage board to review the proposed one and immediately announce Tk 3,000 minimum wage for the garment sector workers. Nobody will be able to stop the movement by lodging cases against the leaders of workers’ organisations, Mishu said.
The unrest in May and June took place only in Savar and Gazipur, she said, adding that if the owners do not accept the workers’ demand, labour unrest will spread across the country.
Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, Shahidul Islam Sobuj and other leaders of Garment Sramik O Shilpa Rakkha Jatiya Mancha, an alliance of 16 organisations, addressed the rally.
Another alliance of 16 organisations of garment workers in a joint statement said it is not possible for the garment workers to survive with the proposed minimum wage considering price hike of essentials and rising living cost.
The alliance urged the board to review the proposed pay structure and announce a revised one. It will also bring out a procession at Muktangon at 4:30 pm today.
Swadhin Bangla Garment Sramik Karmachari Federation in a statement rejected the minimum wage of Tk 1,604 for the garment workers and demanded Tk 3,000 as the minimum monthly wage.
The federation formed a human chain at Muktangon in the capital yesterday in protest against the proposed pay structure.
Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in a statement yesterday termed the proposed minimum gross wage of Tk 1,604 a ‘mockery’ with the garment workers, and said the workers will be forced to go for a tougher movement if such mockery continues.
Our Narayanganj correspondent adds: Rejecting the proposed pay structure, garment workers yesterday brought out a procession on Bangabandhu Road in the city.
Chase and counter-chase between police and a group of outsiders occurred when they tried to shut down some factories.
Garment workers brought out a procession at Chashara and tired to shut down several factories, that created tension in the adjacent areas and led to closure of several factories.
Aggrieved garment workers also threw brickbats at some garment factories.
Roads from Chashara to Mondol Para in Narayanganj remained blocked for more than an hour, much to the sufferings of the commuters.
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