ILO decries low wages in RMG sector
Says legal minimum salary not increased in 10 years
Md Hasan/The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Minimum monthly wages in garment sector of Bangladesh has made it impossible for workers to lead a decent life, says a recent survey of International Labour Organization (ILO).
The survey observes most of the trade unions in the garment sector operate from outside the factories and thus suffer a lack of active participation of the workers.
Bangladesh is a country with one of the lowest wage rates in the world, the survey on “RMG Industry, Post-MFA Regime and Decent Work, The Bangladesh Perspective” says.
It says while the low wage rate reflects large supplies of workers relative to demand, what is striking is that the legal minimum wage in this sector has not increased during the last 10 years or so.
“It is often argued that minimum wage in the sector has increased in response to the adjustment with the increased standards of living and inflation”, it adds.
“However, such a claim is grossly overstated, as full inflation adjustment is never undertaken.”
Meanwhile, there are seven grades for the garment industry ranging from grade one to seven. The hierarchy has been designed in descending order, with grade seven being the lowest and statutory legal minimum wage for a grade seven employee being Tk 930 and that for a grade one employee being Tk 4,500.
The labour standards are appallingly low, when compared with the ILO’s ‘decent work’ indicators.
The ILO survey finds that when workers do overtime, employers very often exploit them on their hours, preferring to pay fixed sums, which is much lower than the 100 percent incremental pay for the overtime work as provided for in the law.
The survey says although in recent times there has been some initiative to bring workers under insurance coverage the non-issuance of appointment letters by employers could actually deprive workers of being benefited from such schemes.
The ILO survey says there is also a need to improve the institutional capacity of basic unions and industrial federations in this sector to deliver effective membership services and more transparent and responsible actions by the union leadership.
The paper points out that the initiative of setting up a common compliance standard should not be alternative to the implementation of the ILO’s core conventions.
It also emphasises the need for strengthening the tripartite consultation structure among the government, employers and workers.
Along with the pressure from increased competition, Bangladesh is also confronted with a challenging task of improving the labour standards in the RMG industry, it says.
The future growth performance of the sector will critically hinge on complying with the labour laws and standards, it observes.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Tipu Munshi said, “It’s true some of the existing wages for the workers do not match with minimum living standard.”
He said garment factories are now facing a labour shortage as most of the workers switch to another factory when they get skilled. The semi-skilled or skilled labours do so to get healthy wages.
“This trend is helpful for the workers as they get over Tk 2,000 a month after three or four months of joining in the garment sector.”
He expressed the hope an effective wage board will be formed soon in association with the government, workers and garment owners.
