Govt-formed wage board for RMG sector set to finalise minimum wage on Tuesday

In the face of the continuous movement by readymade garments workers, the Minimum Wage Board will hold its 6th meeting on Tuesday (7 November) at 11:00am to finalise the minimum wage.

The meeting will be held at the office of the board at Segunbagicha in the capital, the board said in a press statement signed by its secretary Raisa Afroz, on Sunday.

Garments workers in Dhaka and surrounding areas have been protesting with the demand for a minimum wage of Tk23,000 for a week, despite efforts by the government, workers' leaders, and owners' associations to normalise the situation.

On 21 October, workers demanded that their minimum wage be increased from the existing Tk8,000 to Tk20,390 while the owners have proposed to increase it to Tk10,400.

On 30 October, at least two people were killed and about 40 injured in massive clashes between police and ready-made garment workers in several industrial areas in Ashulia, Savar, and Gazipur.

Following the weeklong clashes, the factory owners on 1 November agreed to pay higher minimum wages to garment workers than Tk10,400, which they proposed earlier.

So far, at least 1,500 people have been sued in three separate cases filed over the vandalism of three garment factories, alongside causing financial loss and injuring factory officials, during the weeklong protests by readymade garment workers in Ashulia of Savar.

The authorities of three factories filed the cases with Ashulia police station on Sunday afternoon, confirmed Abdullahil Kafi, additional superintendent of Dhaka District Traffic Police.