Close on the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) recently putting forth a proposal to increase the basic pay of readymade garment (RMG) workers by 55 per cent through the minimum wage board to Taka 17,568, various alliances of the readymade garment sector trade unions opposed the CPD’s proposal.
According to media reports, the labour organisations criticised the local think tank’s proposal as illogical and detrimental to the welfare of workers.
During a dialogue recently, the CPD proposed a minimum monthly wage of Taka 17,568 for readymade garment workers, aiming to help them cope with the rising cost of living even as the CPD’s estimate took into account the presence of two earning members in each family.
The Industriall Bangladesh Council (IBC), representing 19 trade union federations in the RMG sector, strongly condemned and opposed the CPD’s proposal. They argued that the proposal served the interests of factory owners rather than workers. In a joint statement, IBC President Amirul Haque Amin and General Secretary Kutubuddin Ahmed urged the CPD to withdraw its proposal and stand in solidarity with the IBC’s demand for a minimum wage of Taka 23,000.
The Bangladesh Garment Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad, led by Chairman Touhidur Rahman and Secretary General Bazlur Rahman Bablu, also voiced their opposition to the CPD’s proposal.
They questioned the motives behind the think tank’s proposal.
The CPD’s study indicated that, on average, each worker’s household had 3.7 members, with two of them being earning members. Disagreeing with these findings, the GSKOP (Garment Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad) argued that the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016 showed only 1.33 earning members in a family.
They referenced the Parent Care Act 2013, which requires children to care for their parents and provide them with food and shelter, suggesting that the number of family members should not be less than five.
