BGMEA rep unwilling to join workers' wage meet
Board sits Sunday; workers smell delay

Jasim Uddin Haroon

The Minimum Wage Board, a government organ entrusted with fixing the minimum wages for garment workers and others, will meet tomorrow (Sunday) at its office to review the wages for the apparel sector after more than three and half years.

But the main stakeholder BGMEA (Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association) is yet to take decision relating to sending its representative to the first meeting on Sunday as Annisul Huq, a member of the board, has already expressed his reluctance to join the meeting.

Earlier in June in 2006, the board fixed the minimum wages for the readymade garments (RMG) workers at Tk 1662.50 at entry level.

This time the garments workers want Tk 5000 (nearly US$ 71) a month as minimum wages for them.

Abdus Salam Murshedy, BGMEA president, told the FE: "We're yet to decide who will be our representative at the first meeting."

The workers leaders of the apparel sector alleged that the owners of the garments factories want to make delay in fixing the minimum wages for the country's around 3.0 million garment workers, mostly women.

Nazma Akter, garment workers leader and a member of the wage Board, said that the owners of garment units want a delay in fixing the minimum wages for the workers.

"They (garment owners) are adopting a policy of snail's pace in the operation of the wage board. For this they have yet to take a decision to go to the meeting," Nazma added.

Touhidur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Apparel Workers Federation told the FE: "Many garments owners expressed their dissatisfaction over the government order relating to activation of the minimum wage board."

He said: "We want Tk 5000 a month which will be conducive to achieving the millennium development goal, set by the UN, by 2015."

He, however, said the government could run the activities of the board despite BGMEA representative being absent at the meetings.

The board officials, who have already finished its necessary preparations to hold its meeting at its city office, said the board had already sent invitations to the members and concerned people.

The members of the board are Iqbal Ahmed, a professor at the Institute of Business Administration, Kazi Saifuddin Ahmed, labour adviser to the Bangladesh Employers Federation, Habibur Rahman Seraj, permanent representative of the board, Anniusl Huq, former BGMEA president and Nazam Akter, a representative of workers.

The wage review process has been initiated after a parliamentary standing committee viewed that the increased cost of living had eroded the incomes of nearly 3.0 million workers in the country's largest manufacturing sector.