IndustriALL demands wage board reconstitution, new minimum wage for garment workers

The IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) has demanded that the wage board be reconstituted by 30 September and a new minimum wage for garment workers be fixed by 30 November, with the revised wage taking effect from December.

At a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday (19 September), IBC General Secretary Salauddin Swapn said the existing wage had failed to keep pace with rising living costs and inflation.

Under the amended Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, the minimum wage must now be reviewed every three years instead of five. The latest minimum wage for garment workers was announced in November 2023, meaning the three years will expire in November.

However, no visible initiative has been taken to reconstitute the wage board, Swapn said. Under Section 139(2), the board must submit its wage recommendation to the government within six months of its formation. Therefore, the board should have been reconstituted in the first week of May, he said.

The IBC wrote to the labour minister on 4 August seeking immediate reconstitution of the board, but no action has followed, Swapn said.

The council also demanded new minimum wages for garment and other industrial workers, citing recent increases in government employees' salaries. It said the government's new pay scale raised salaries by 100% to 142%, with the lowest grade increasing from Tk20,010 to Tk48,400.

According to the IBC, the garment-sector minimum wage rose from Tk1,662.50 in 2006 to Tk3,000 in 2010, Tk5,300 in 2013, Tk8,000 in 2018 and Tk12,500 in 2023.

Swapn said rising food, housing, healthcare and other living costs had eroded the impact of these increases. The council said it did not oppose government financial support for the garment sector but called for greater focus on workers' rights and living standards.

To press its demands, the IBC will hold a rally outside the National Press Club at 11am on 4 October and submit a memorandum to the labour minister. Its regional committees will also hold rallies and protest processions in Gazipur, Savar-Ashulia, Narayanganj and Chattogram from 5-20 October.

The IBC said it represents 19 labour organisations – 16 in garments, two in chemicals and one in metals.