Representative criticised for not protecting workers’ interest
Apparel sector trade union leaders on Friday criticised workers’ representative to the wage board for accepting Tk 8,000 as the minimum wage for readymade garment workers without any consultation with the sector people. The labour leaders said that the workers’ representative failed to protect the interest of the workers as she was not the real representative of the sector. Workers’ representative Shamsunnahar Bhuiyan said that she agreed with the minimum wage as prime minister Sheikh Hasina proposed the amount and requested the representatives of the factory owners and the workers to accept it. ‘It is a stage-managed wage board and the government has set the minimum wage as per the will of the factory owners,’ Garment Worker Trade Union Centre executive president Kazi Ruhul Amin told New Age on Friday. The workers representative is not a real representative of garment sector workers rather the government appointed her violating the labour law and rules,’ he said.IndustriALL Bangladesh Council secretary general Salauddin Shapon said that the workers representative failed to protect the workers interest. Shamsunnahar Bhuiyan was not selected by the trade unions, rather she was appointed by the government and she never discussed with the sector leaders about the minimum wage, he said. Labour leaders had questioned the appointment of workers’ representative saying that the government had violated the labour rules as it did not appoint workers’ representative to the wage board from the highest-represented workers’ federation.