Wage board to convene meeting soon to fix RMG workers’ new wages: Chairman

Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman, chairman of the Minimum Wage Board, today (3 November) said the board would soon convene its first meeting to determine a new wage structure for ready-made garment (RMG) workers, assuring that the overall process would be completed swiftly.

Speaking to UNB, he said the first meeting of the previous wage board was held 45 days after the gazette notification and the entire process took six to seven months to complete. “This time, however, the process will move much faster as the government is committed to completing it as quickly as possible,” he said.

The development comes amid ongoing labour unrest, as workers staged demonstrations and clashed with police in Gazipur, Savar, Ashulia and Mirpur on Tuesday, even though two days have elapsed since the government reconstituted the wage board.

On 1 November, the government formed the wage board, with Senior District and Sessions Judge Ashfaqur Rahman as its chairman.

Prof Dr Musleh Uddin Ahmed of the Department of Public Administration at Dhaka University was appointed as its neutral member. As general representatives, Asif Ayub, joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Employers Federation, was appointed as the employers’ representative, while Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, is representing workers.

The board also has two representatives from the garment industry: ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Babul Akhtar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation.

Labour representatives on the board, Anwar Hossain and Babul Akhtar, urged the board chairman to call an immediate meeting, stating that they would specify their request in writing.

“The last minimum wage structure came into effect in December 2023. As three years will be completed this December, we want workers to receive the new wages in January. We are ready to hold continuous sessions, even sitting through the night, if necessary, to deliver fair wages to the workers without delay,” Babul said.

Historically, the government first established a minimum wage board for RMG workers in 1994, setting the minimum wage at Tk930. The minimum wage was subsequently revised to Tk1,662.50 in 2006, Tk3,000 in 2010, Tk5,300 in 2013, Tk8,000 in 2018, and Tk12,500 in November 2023.