Fix minimum wage at Tk 3,000 for RMG workers

The concept of minimum wage should be clear to everybody, they said, adding that fixing of minimum wage does not mean that it would raise the wages in all factories.

"We should also think about the implementation mechanism so that it could be activated soon and the review of remuneration should be made compulsory through amendment to related laws," said Sultan Ahmed of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS).

Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) organised the roundtable on 'Fixing the minimum wage for garment industries and our duties' at a city hotel. Representatives of factory owners and workers and government officials took part in the discussion.

The objective of the roundtable is to place recommendations in order to help the wage commission fix the minimum wage and implement it without any delay, said BNWLA Executive Director Salma Ali.

The speakers also called for reforms of the wage commission.

"Though the productivity rate in the country's garment industry is the highest in the region, the wage is the lowest in the world. The members of the commission should consider market price, inflation and dollar exchange rate while fixing the minimum wage," said Abul Ehsan, president of Textile Garment Sramik Federation.

SM Fazlul Haque, a director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA), said a delegation of the association would soon visit Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal to see their wage award systems.

Presenting the recommendations prepared by the BNWLA in consultation with different groups, Fawzia Karim Firoz called for a review of the existing grade system and reformed structure. A tripartite monitoring committee should also be formed to review the situation of garment factories.

Independent member of the wage commission Prof Iqbal Ahmed, GM Kader MP, Chairman of 3rd labour court Abdul Mannan, and Secretary to the labour and employment ministry Sujauddin Ahmed also spoke.