The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh will be finalised by December, according to a decision taken at the first meeting of the sector's minimum wage board.
The meeting began at 11:30am on Wednesday (November 4) at the board's conference room in Segunbagicha, Dhaka. It was chaired by board chairman Justice Syed Azad Subhani.
Under the decision, workers will receive their revised wages along with their January salaries.
The meeting comes amid several days of protests by garment workers in different parts of the country demanding higher wages. The government had reconstituted the minimum wage board and formed a separate board for the garment industry on November 1 amid growing labour unrest.
At the meeting, ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), represented the owners. Bab ul Akhtar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), represented the workers.
Garment workers have been protesting in Dhaka, Savar and Gazipur over the past several days, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000. Roads were blocked in these areas again on Wednesday.
The last minimum wage revision for garment workers was announced in November 2023 and took effect the following month. At that time, the minimum monthly wage was raised by 56.25%, from Tk 8,000 to Tk 12,500.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour reconstituted the minimum wage board last Sunday amid continued protests over wage increases. Dhaka University Professor Mosleh Uddin Ahmed was appointed as an independent member.
As permanent representatives of the employers and workers, the ministry appointed Asif Ayub, joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Employers' Federation, and Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, respectively.
In a separate notification issued the same day, the government appointed BGMEA director ABM Shamsuddin as the employers' representative and BGIWF General Secretary Babul Akhtar as the workers' representative on the minimum wage board formed specifically for the garment industry.
