Rmg Workers News Today

Why crack down on workers who are demanding their dues?

Fashion and textile supply chains stand to benefit greatly from the rise of the responsible investor.

The European Union (EU) and the German government jointly provided assistance of 113.5 million euros, equivalent to about Tk 1,135 crore, to workers who lost their jobs in the garment, leather, and footwear industries during Covid, but workers have only received Tk 9 crore of the fund so far.

It is shocking that the wage board sees it fit to approve such a meagre amount for minimum wage for RMG workers, which is a quarter of what they need just to stay above the poverty line.

We may have abandoned socialism, but there has been precious little “freedom” in the “free markets” that we have supposedly embraced. And if we can feed this industry with blood, sweat, and taxes year after year, surely we should be able to decide the bare minimum that it pays its workers?

To the outrage of the workers and trade unions who have been demanding a minimum wage of Tk 23,000-25,000, the wage board for the garment sector has announced a pitiful amount—Tk 12,500—as the monthly wage.

Minimum wage for RMG workers: The reaction of the owners to the workers' legitimate demand has been totally unacceptable.

Who gave them the power or direction to shoot protesters in the first place?

If it’s left to garment suppliers, the green transition will take decades.

Will the wage board and our policymakers truly hear the stories of backbreaking work and heartbreaking debt of the garment workers, who have kept the economy going even at its worst phases?