Bangladesh Wage Board recommends Tk 5300 as minimum salary

05 Nov '13

2 min read

The six-member Wage Board, constituted by the Government of Bangladesh in May this year to revive minimum wages of workers employed in the country’s readymade garment (RMG) manufacturing units, has recommended Tk 5,300 as minimum wage, including food subsidy.

After failing to finalize the minimum wage at its earlier meetings, the Wage Board took a vote to finalize the Tk 5,300 (approx. US$ 68) per month salary, which would be 76.66 percent higher than the existing Tk 3,000 per month.

The new salary proposed by the Wage Board includes Tk 3,200 as basic pay, Tk 1,280 towards house rent, Tk 320 as medical allowance, Tk 200 as transport allowance, and another Tk 300 as food subsidies.

The previous wage board constituted by the Bangladesh Government in July 2010 had hiked the minimum wage from the then existing Tk 1,662.50 per month to Tk 3,000 per month.

The draft proposal would now be forwarded to the Labour Ministry, which would seek opinions of stakeholders, and after 14 days would publish a gazette notification, after which the new minimum wages would become effective.

The salaries of those working in other grades would also increase proportionately, once the new wage structure is implemented, which is likely to benefit around 3.5 million garment workers.

The Tk 5,300 minimum salary finalized by the Wage Board is higher than the Tk 4,250 suggested by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and lower than the Tk 8,114 sought by workers’ representatives.

Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of apparel, next only to China, and few incidents like the last year’s Tazreen Fashion fire accident and the Rana Plaza building collapse earlier this year brought global limelight on the existing conditions of garment workers in Bangladeshi factories.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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