Bangladeshi workers call for higher pay increase

GARMENT workers in Bangladesh have rejected an increase in the minimum wage, saying it is still not enough to live on and urging global brands to pay more for the clothes they buy, unions said on yesterday.

Bangladesh raised the minimum wage by more than 50 percent last week to 8,000 taka (US$95.5) a month — the first increase since 2013, when a string of fatal factory accidents thrust poor working conditions and pay into the spotlight.

“The new wages announced are not enough for workers to live a decent life,” said Mohd. Raisul Islam Khan, field coordinator for the IndustriALL Global Union. “Workers were demanding 16,000 takas. They are not happy and many organizations are talking about an indefinite strike if the wages are not reconsidered.”

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment producer after China and its US$30 billion industry employs an estimated 4 million people, 80 percent of them women.

The workers are among the worst-paid in the world, a compensation report released by the Fair Labor Association in April stated. Overtime income accounts for 20 percent of their salary, it said, and half the workers put in more than 60 hours a week despite the impact on their health.

“The decision to raise wages for garment workers in Bangladesh is an encouraging — though long overdue — step in the right direction,” Sharon Waxman of the FLA said.

“Workers came to us and said their pay had gone up but they did not even have a minute to drink water or use the restroom during their shift,” said Nahidul Hasan Nayan, general secretary of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, which supports unions.