Bangladesh’s apparel industry workers are the lowest paid in the world, said Oxfam International, a confederate of non-Government organisations.
The wages are so low, it says that “on average, it takes just over four days for a CEO from the top five companies in the garment sector to earn what an ordinary Bangladeshi woman garment worker earns in her whole lifetime”.
Oxfam’s report, titled ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’ was published on January 21, 2018. It highlighted the wealth created by the toiling labour of the workers and the poverty situation of those wealth makers.
The report discussed the minimum wage versus the living wage of seven major apparel-making industries in the world – India, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Vietnam. It shows that the ratio of living wage against minimum wage offered in Bangladesh is the lowest.
Regarding Bangladesh, the report said workers are subjected to abuse. It said, “In Bangladesh, many young women suffer from repeated urinary tract infections because of not being allowed to go the toilet”.
Currently, the minimum wage for 3.6 million garment workers in Bangladesh, the majority of whom are women, is BDT 5,300. However, the apparel manufacturers are moving to raise the minimum wage.
A new board has been formed this month to fix the minimum pay for Bangladesh’s garment workers. The board will be submitting their recommendation within next six months.
All the while, worker leaders and several pro-labour organisations have been demanding BDT 16,000 as the minimum wage for a worker to sustain in the living cost of Bangladesh.
