Apparel workers have taken to the streets for the fourth day, despite assurances from the garments owners.
The workers have blocked the roads and demonstrating in Mirpur’s Kalshi area since Wednesday (Jan 9) morning.
They have been protesting since Sunday (Jan 6), demanding minimum wages among many other things in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Savar and Gazipur.
On Wednesday (Jan 9) Commerce Minister Munshi and State Minister for Labour Munnujan Sufian held a meeting with the garment workers and owners at the Department of Labour.
Apparel workers allege that the monthly wage in the seventh grade increased to Tk 8,000 from Tk 5,300 as per the latest gazette published by the government last year. But, the salary of the workers in other grades did not increase at the same rate.
The salary hike for the entry-level workers was more than that of their senior operators, who have been working for more than seven to eight years.
The new wage has been effective from Dec 1. Major disparity in the salary hike was noticed in the third and fourth grades as their salaries were not raised like that of entry-level workers.
After the Tuesday meeting, the government assured to solve all the issues over new wage structure by January.