Union leaders urged BGMEA’s new board to take action to raise wages for garment workers in light of soaring commodity prices.

Wages of RMG workers in Bangladesh are the lowest in the world, which is why workers face difficulties in maintaining their livelihoods, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) leaders said after visiting courtesy to newly elected council members Monday at his Uttara office.

After the meeting, Kutubuddin Ahmed, former president and executive member of IBC, said: “We have asked the new board of directors of BGMEA to take an initiative to readjust the wages of workers in the garment sector, because the current salary board was declared three years ago.

A number of factories closed during the pandemic and a large number of workers lost their jobs without any service benefits, he noted.

The clothing industry is seeing double-digit growth this year, and now is the time to raise workers’ wages as prices for essentials skyrocket.

Kutubuddin said, “We have discussed some issues and have agreed to continue this discussion once a month.

In November 2018, the government published a notice in the gazette setting the minimum wage for garment workers at 8,000 Tk.

The new salary structure came into effect on December 1, 2018.

A grade 7 worker receives 4,100 Tk as a basic salary, in addition to 2,050 Tk for the rent of the house, 600 Tk for medical care, 350 Tk for transport and 950 Tk as a food subsidy.

A trainee or apprentice worker receives a total of 5,975 Tk per month, according to the latest salary board.