Readymade garment (RMG) workers will demonstrate in their factory areas across Bangladesh on September 21, protesting their minimum wage being fixed at Tk8,000 by the government.
They demand their minimum wage be fixed at Tk16,000.
RMG workers have also decided to continue their protests until the government agrees to their demand, reports UNB.
They announced the decision on Wednesday under the banner of “Garments Workers' Trade Union Centre (GWTUC).” It came when police stopped the GWTUC march towards the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the afternoon to submit a memorandum seeking reconsideration of the minimum wage.
Jolly Talukder, general secretary of the organization, also announced another protest rally to be held in front of the National Press Club on September 28.
"If the government doesn't fulfil our demand, we will continue our protest program to realize our demandfor a minimum wage of Tk16,000," she said, dubbing the government's decision of a Tk8,000 minimum wage, “inhumane.”
"Workers' minimum wage must be Tk16,000 considering the growing prices of essentials," she said.
On September 13, the government set the minimum wage for RMG workers. The decision will come into effect in December next, after the publication of a gazette notification.
Worker wages were last raised in 2013.
Bangladesh is the largest exporter of readymade garment products, after China. The sector employs an estimated 40 million workers, mostly women, and contributes to more than 80 percent of Bangladesh's export earnings.