abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

28 Jan 2019

Author:
The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Garment workers' wages rise due to protests

"Workers' wages rise in 6 grades", 14 Janaury 2019

After eight days of labour unrest, the government yesterday [13 January] announced a revised pay structure for the garment sector, with a slight increase in both basic and gross wages in six of the seven grades. The gross hike ranges from a token Tk 15 [~ 0.56 USD] to a modest Tk 747 [~ 9 USD], effective from December last year and to be adjusted from February...Workers, protesting since January 6, had been demanding pay raise in three grades in particular -- grade 3, 4 and 5...

Even as a tripartite committee held almost a daylong meeting to reach a consensus on the hike, RMG [ready-made garment] workers continued their protest. On the other hand, factory owners threatened to shut down their units if the protestors did not go back to work...[The] president of the National Garment Workers Federation, said, “We welcome the revision and the new wage structure.” He was speaking on behalf of the trade union leaders who are on the tripartite committee. Reactions among the workers were mixed...

Incidents of labour unrest over the pay structure made headlines in early December...That protest died down ahead of the general election. However, when workers drew their wages for January, they spotted a huge disparity -- in some cases, their gross wages came down instead of going up, triggering the latest spell of protest. After yesterday's announcement, trade union leaders are hoping that the workers will join work...

Timeline

Privacy information

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies. You can set your privacy choices below. Changes will take effect immediately.

For more information on our use of web storage, please refer to our Data Usage and Cookies Policy

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Your privacy choices for this site

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies to enhance your experience beyond necessary core functionality.