The government is going to form a new wage board by next week to recommend an acceptable minimum wage for the country’s readymade garments (RMG) workers. “The board will make recommendations on new wages after discussing the issue with the stakeholders within three months,” said jute and textiles minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, at a press briefing, on Sunday. The wage board will have a retrospective effect from May 1. The government took the decision after a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the textiles ministry with the representatives of other relevant ministries and organisations of the export-focused garment sector.
The meeting was attended, among others, by labour and employment minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, shipping minister Shajahan Khan, FBCCI former presidents Salman F. Rahman and AK Azad, BGMEA president Atiqul Islam, and BGMEA former presidents Shafiul Islam and Salam Murshedy.
Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged BGMEA leaders to evolve an institutional mechanism to increase the salaries of garments workers by a certain percentage every year, to help them lead a decent life.
The board will be formed with representatives from apparel manufacturers, RMG workers, district and sessions judge, and an independent member. The board will draft a wage structure for the USD 20-billion apparel industry, which is responsible for almost 80 per cent of the country’s entire export earnings. The industry employs about four million workers, mostly women.
Meanwhile,the Social Compliances Forum on Readymade Garments has found that a total of 943 garment factories are housed in defective buildings, which do not properly follow fire safety rules. It has also identified factories that lack congenial working environments.
The forum members have visited 3,197 garment factories across the country following the inferno at Tazreen Fashions.
Commerce minister Ghulam Mohammad Quader on Sunday disclosed these figures to reporters after a meeting of the forum on readymade garments, which was held at the conference room of his ministry.
Apparel sector trade bodies—BGMEA and BKMEA—and labour leaders welcomed the decision, adding that they would accept the recommendations for the betterment of the industry. They expressed hope that the move would help to put an end to the longstanding labour unrest over wages.
Industry people also admitted that the demand for new wages is reasonable in the context of the global scenario and the rising rate of inflation and consumer price index.
Welcoming the decision, Jatiya Sramik Jote president Shirin Akhter said it would bring positive results and put an end to the crisis in the RMG sector. She also urged the government to take immediate steps to implement the workers’ rights as per labour law.
The wage board, on July 27, 2010, had set the minimum monthly pay at Tk. 3,000, raising it from Tk. 1,662.50, even though the workers demanded Tk. 5,000. The first minimum wage board was constituted in 1994 and fixed Tk. 940 as minimum wage for garment workers. The second one, formed in 2006, set the minimum wage at Tk. 1,662.50.
The government action came less than a week after a high-profile mission of the International Labour Organisation called on authorities to take immediate measures to improve labour standards and working conditions in the garments factories.
According to sources, the government has been under severe pressure to act in order to improve conditions in the country’s largest export industry. Foreign and domestic pressure has been mounting following a series of industrial accidents including the Tazreen Fire and Savar building collapse incidents.
Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Atiqul Islam and other leaders of the readymade garments business as well as workers’ leaders attended the meeting.
“The Social Compliances Forum on Readymade Garments, formed under the leadership of the commerce minister, has visited 3,197 garments factories. The forum members have separately visited the factories in two groups. Of them, one group of members has examined the fire safety and emergency exit systems of 797 factories. The other group has examined the working environments and other benefits provided to garment workers,” the commerce minister explained.
Quader said the committee has identified a total of 943 factories out of the 3,197 factories which are housed in defective buildings.
A total of 243 factories out of these 943 factories lack proper fire safety compliances while 700 factories are running without proper compliances, such as proper, congenial working environments for the workers, the minister said.
“Time has been given to the owners of the defective factories to solve their problems and ensure compliance within a short period. Otherwise, the government will shut down their factories to ensure the workers’ rights and their safety,” the commerce minister warned.
Quader further said the government has already shut down 20 garment factories in Dhaka and Chittagong areas. The BGMEA leaders have shut down two factories in Narayanganj on their own initiative.
The government has shut down 16 factories in Dhaka and four factories in Chittagong. The minister claimed these defective factories are not functioning at present. However, the minister did not disclose the list of defective garments factories which have been shut down or name the business leaders who own them.
Regarding the benefits of generalised system of preferences (GSP) in the US and the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) treaty, Quader said, “We are getting only 0.5 per cent GSP benefits from the US now, which is a minor part of the GSP. However, if we fail to get the GSP benefits from the US, we will have to lose other markets across the world. That is why the government is trying to keep the GSP facilities with the authorities concerned.”
Regarding the TICFA with the US, he said, “It will help us get the GSP benefits for Bangladesh from the US. We could discuss the matter when the TICFA summit is held.”
-With The Independent input
