The Wage Board that was formed to fix the minimum wages for workers of the readymade garments (RMG) industry once again failed to finalise the wage structure at Thursday’s meeting. It set November 4 as the fresh date for finalising the wage structure, which has been at the epicentre of much debate. The Wage Board was supposed to finalise the minimum wages at its last meeting on October 27, but failed to do so as the owners’ representative could not attend the meeting due to the countrywide shutdown organised by the Opposition parties.
The owners’ representative, Arshad Jamal Dipu, submitted the revised minimum wage proposal of Tk. 4,250 per month on Thursday at the eighth meeting of the Wage Board. But the workers’ representative, Sirajul Islam Rony, who attended the meeting, vehemently rejected the proposal.
In order to bridge the gap between the proposals of the owners and workers, the independent member in the Wage Board, Prof. Kamaluddin Ahmed, placed a fresh proposal of Tk. 5,000, which was also rejected by the workers’ representatives. Apparently annoyed, workers’ representative Sirajul Islam Rony sought more time to discuss the issues with leaders of various workers’ unions and federations before reaching a final decision.
“We discussed the revised proposal submitted by the owners’ representatives in detail, but could not reach a consensus. That is why we are taking time till November 4 for finalising the minimum wages for RMG workers,” disclosed board chairman AK Roy while briefing journalists after the meeting.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association’s (BGMEA’s) proposal includes a basic of Tk. 2,500, Tk. 1,000 house rent, Tk. 250 medical allowance, Tk. 300 food subsidy and Tk. 200 transportation cost. Workers’ representatives protested the inclusion of food subsidy in the pay structure and demanded separation of the food subsidy from the employees’ monthly salary. The figure is, however, lower than the amount (Tk. 4,680) earlier conveyed by the BGMEA leaders to journalists.
The government, sources said, might increase the amount slightly, as it had done in earlier cases, so that the final amount is likely to be Tk. 4,500, Arshad Jamal Dipu told media persons, adding that they might go up to this level. “But beyond the level, many small and medium garments factories will be in trouble, as their financial bases are not too strong,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, a good number of garments workers and leaders staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Wage Board while the meeting was under way. Carrying festoons and placards, they demanded Tk. 8,000 as minimum wages and warned against any conspiracy to delay its implementation. Workers’ leaders Moshrefa Mishu and Rafiqul Islam Pathik addressed the meeting.
On June 6, the government appointed the six-member minimum wage board with retired district judge AK Roy as the chairman for revising the wages of RMG workers. BGMEA director Arshad Jamal Dipu and Sirajul Islam Rony were included as members to represent respectively the garments factory owners and their workers.
Workers’ representative Sirajul Islam Rony placed a Tk. 8,114 minimum wage proposal at the third meeting of the Wage Board on August 18. The owners rejected the offer, terming it exaggerated, and placed a proposal instead of Tk. 3,600 on September 17.
Under the factory owners’ proposal, a worker (apprentice level) of a garments factory will get a monthly wage of Tk. 3,600 as against the existing salary of Tk. 3,000. The workers, in turn, rejected the offer.
The new wage structure, sources said, is likely to become effective from this month (November). Some 20 per cent of the country’s four million-odd garments workers come under the category of minimum wages, while the remaining 80 per cent are sewing operators and old workers.
-With The Independent input
