Key Points
A female worker was killed on Wednesday as protesting readymade garment workers in Bangladesh clashed with police at an industrial hub near here over the unacceptable wage hike announced by the authorities...
This was the third death in seven days and came a day after Bangladesh authorities announced a 56.25 per cent hike in the salary structure for readymade garment (RMG) factory workers...
On Tuesday, the authorities in Bangladesh announced a new salary structure for the protesting garment factory workers with a 56.25 per cent increase in the monthly minimum wage to USD 114 (Taka 12,500) a month from the previous USD 75 (approximately Taka 8,000), a decision that was rejected by some workers groups as too small as they had demanded Taka 23,000...
Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation president Kalpona Akter said they were extremely frustrated with the paltry increase.. On the other hand, leaders of the garment factory owners apex body Bangladesh Readymade Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said it was difficult for them to pay even the new wage structure announced on Tuesday...
Yet we accepted the new wage structure as all parties involved agreed to the rise, BGMEA representative Siddiqur Rahman said.. Bangladeshs nearly 4,000 garment factories account for about 85 per cent of its USD 55 billion in annual exports, mainly to the United States and Europe, supplying many of the worlds top brands including Levis, Zara, GAP, and H&M...
