Garment workers in Bangladesh reject $23 minimum wages
Web posted at: 9/14/2014 9:23:13
Source ::: AFP
Peninsula On-line, Qatar
DHAKA • Bangladesh garment manufacturers and workers both rejected a proposed new monthly minimum wage of $23 a month following violent protests in May over pay and conditions.
“It’s far lower than our expectations. We hoped the commission would think about the cost of living in the country before fixing this absurd minimum wage,†Nazma Akhter, a garment labour union leader said. Rioting workers torched 16 factories and ransacked hundreds of others in May. At least two people were killed and scores injured after security officers fired on demonstrators.
The workers went back to work in mid-June after employers promised to set a new minimum wage. But employee representatives yesterday dismissed the new wage of 1,604 taka ($23) announced late Tuesday by the government’s National Wage Commission.
“We shall not accept this minimum wage. We want the minimum wage to be at least 2,000 taka (29 dollars) or else we will have no option but to launch protests on the streets to realize our demands,†Akhter said.
Employers also rejected the new wage, saying that it would have a devastating impact on the industry.
“Many of the garment factories will have to close if they implement this minimum wage,†said Anisul Haq, a former president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association who represented the factory owners at the wage commission.
