Bangladesh urges garment workers to accept wage hike

Bangladeshi garment workers carry red flags during a protest march in Dhaka on July 28. Bangladesh's Labour Minister urged millions of garment workers on Thursday to accept a new 80-percent wage hike, which looks set to end months of violent protests over pay and conditions. (AFP/File/Munir Uz Zaman)

DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh’s Labour Minister urged millions of garment workers on Thursday to accept a new 80-percent wage hike, which looks set to end months of violent protests over pay and conditions.

The government said Tuesday it would raise the minimum wage from 1,662 taka, the lowest industry salary worldwide, to 3,000 taka (43 dollars) — below the 5,000 taka demanded by some unions.

“I hope that garment workers will be happy with this decision,” Labour Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said, adding that the new wage would be implemented from November 1 this year.

“We know the industry has many problems — irregular power supply, infrastructure limitations — which is why we have not pressured manufacturers to increase pay more,” Hossain added.

Bangladesh is in the grip of its worst-ever utilities crisis, with a daily shortfall of 2,000 megawatts of electricity hitting industry, especially the export-orientated garment sector.

Garment manufacturers, who have staunchly resisted any significant wage increase, agreed late Wednesday to the terms of the wage deal after lobbying for delayed implementation to safeguard the price of current orders.

“We will encourage all our members to implement this wage hike,” said Abdul Salam Morshedy, head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association which represents the majority of the country’s 4,500 garment factories.

Unrest over low wages has caused months of supply disruptions, with workers — who make clothing for leading Western brands — taking to the streets in protests that have seen factories ransacked and led to clashes with police.

“For the good of the sector as a whole, we agree to this new wage,” said Badruddazaman Nizam, a workers’ representative at the wage board.

Nearly a dozen left-leaning unions organised a protest in Dhaka Wednesday, but turnout was low.

The garment industry enjoyed record sales last month, with Bangladesh shipping 1.72 billion dollars of goods in June, the highest monthly export in the country’s 40-year history. — AFP