A worker in the tannery business who does not receive a minimum compensation of Taka 25,000 will be deprived of access to basic essentials for survival, per a study conducted by the Tannery Workers’ Union.
In addition to interviewing workers, the Tannery Workers’ Union looked at the expenses related to housing, healthcare, education, and other needs.
The findings were given by the tannery sector executives at a conversation at the capital’s Topkhana, which was co-hosted by the Bangladesh Labour Rights Journalist Forum (BLRJF) and the Tannery Workers Union (TWU), with backing from Solidarity Centre.
The event’s chief guest was veteran journalist and freedom fighter Azizul Haque Bhuiyan. TWU President Abul Kalam Azad chaired the discussion while BLRJF General Secretary Ataur Rahman moderated the event.
According to the document provided at the event, the Tannery Workers’ Union conducted the study by applying the Anchor Methodology, a globally accepted methodology for determining minimum wages.
Twenty women and thirty-two men were questioned out of the 52 workers in the Hazaribagh and Hemayetpur districts between 1st February and 15th March of this year.
An average family of four spends at least Taka 25,000 a month when their minimal food consumption, lodging costs, medical, education, entertainment, leisure, clothes, mobile, internet, and other incidentals are taken into account.
Addressing the chief guest, Azizul Haque Bhuiyan said, “It is unexpected that while some people are smuggling thousands of takas out of this country, the workers of our country are fighting for a living wage. Taka 25,000 minimum wage is a meager amount and this demand must be realised.”
Solidarity Center-Bangladesh office Country Program Director AKM Nasim said, “As per law, the union can bargain for higher wages with the owners irrespective of the declared minimum wage. But we never actually see it. The minimum wage for the workers will be determined through successful bargaining of the union with the wage board. But this is not the end. The wages determined are rarely implemented in tanneries. We should be aware of that too.”
Abul Kalam Azad, the president of TWU, urged the relevant authorities to set and enforce the minimum wage for workers on schedule.
