Photo : Collected
The minimum wage issue of the readymade garment workers in Bangladesh has drawn significant attention, both locally and globally, in recent weeks.
The Minimum Wage Board for garment workers made an initial announcement of the new minimum wage on 7th November 2023, which was officially declared through a draft gazette published on 11th November 2023. As per the formal procedure, there is a window of 14 days for public comments after the draft gazette is published. As the 14-day period expired, the wage board met on 26th November and declared the final decision about the minimum wages, with few changes on the draft gazette.
Before I share our clarification and observations on the final decision on the minimum wages, let me put on record that the minimum wage is negotiated and finalized based on consultations and discussions between the Board members through a series of meetings. The Wage Board works independently which is chaired by a retired district judge and participated by workers and employers with equal representation. An independent member also takes part in the negotiation as a neutral Board Member.
We noticed a few media reports misquoted BGMEA on this issue; this is to clarify that BGMEA was neither a part of the wage negotiation process, nor did we make any public comment on it until the wage board made their initial announcement on 7 November
Messenger/Sajib
