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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Bangladeshi government on Tuesday announced a new wage design for garment factory staff, protesting a 56 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage from $75 to $113, a move rejected by some employee groups as too small.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Monnujan Sufian, announced the resolution after an assembly of a government-formed wage council made up of representatives of factories and workers. He said the new wage distribution would go into effect on Dec. 1.
Critics argue that influential factory owners do more for workers.
The decision came after weeks of violent protests over workers’ difficult $208 monthly minimum wage. Workers protested in the streets, attacked factories, fought police and set fire to vehicles.
The protests began after the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association proposed raising the monthly minimum wage by 25% to $90.
The last minimum wage increase announced in 2018.
Workers say they’ve been racing to make ends meet lately.
Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industry Workers’ Federation, said she was “extremely frustrated” by what she described as a negligible increase.
Akter said they are suffering because raw material costs are rising.
“It’s very frustrating. We’re content with this,” he said.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment-producing country after China, with only about 3,500 factories employing about four million workers, most of them women, according to the manufacturers’ association.
He says factory owners are under pressure because global brands in Western countries are offering less than before.
Owners say production costs have also risen due to emerging energy and transportation costs.
Bangladesh earns about $55 billion from its garment exports, mostly to the United States and Europe. The country is exploring new markets such as Japan, China, and India.