Labour rights advocates found that around 70 million workers in Bangladesh remain outside any minimum wage framework, and they called for a national benchmark based on living costs, inflation, education, healthcare and social protection.
The demand was made at a roundtable organised by the Bangladesh Sramik Kalyan Federation at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Thursday.
“Only a handful of sectors in Bangladesh have minimum wage structures, while around 70 million people remain outside any national minimum wage framework,” said Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Garment Workers Federation.
Speaking as chief guest, Labour Reform Commission head and Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed said wages should not be viewed merely as a workers’ issue but as an economic, political and social issue affecting education, healthcare and inequality.
He proposed a three-tier wage structure: a clear basis for a national minimum wage, sector-specific wages based on that benchmark, and occupation-based wages for workers not covered by any particular industrial sector.
He said policymakers should consider Bangladesh Bank’s inflation data, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ household income and expenditure data, and government policies on education, health, nutrition and social protection.
Shakil Akhtar Chowdhury, general secretary of the Bangladesh Labour Federation, said the weakness of workers creates room for what he described as a “farce” in wage determination, calling for a systematic and scientific process.
The roundtable was chaired by Bangladesh Sramik Kalyan Federation Central President Atiqur Rahman. Leaders and activists of the federation and several other labour organisations attended.
