Garment workers demand threee-year wage board, Tk37,000 minimum wage

Garment workers have demanded a wage board for 2026-29 and a minimum monthly wage of Tk37,000, equivalent to US$300.
Thirty-five federations under four alliances made the demand at a joint press conference at the Shafiqul Kabir auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) on Monday.
The groups are the Garments Sramik Karmachari Parishad (G-SKOP), Garments Sramik Shilpa Rakkha Jatiya Mancha, Garments Sramik Parishad and Asia Floor Wage Alliance Bangladesh.
They called for a new minimum wage that reflects the cost of living and the government pay scale. Their proposal sets the starting wage for an assistant operator at Tk37,125 ($300).
Shah Muhammad Abu Zafar, a former MP, freedom fighter and senior leader of the alliances and G-SKOP, chaired the event, while alliance leader Khalequzzaman Lipon read out the written statement.
The leaders said Article 15 of the Constitution and Section 141 of the Labour Act provide guidelines for wage determination. Section 141 lists 11 criteria, including the cost of living, productivity, inflation, the nature and risks of work, employers’ capacity and the country’s socioeconomic conditions. They said their demand was based on an analysis of these factors.
They noted that the garment sector is Bangladesh’s largest export earner. In the fiscal 2025-26, the country exported goods worth $48 billion against a target of $55 billion, with garments accounting for $38.70 billion, or 81% of the total. In FY15, garment exports stood at $25.49 billion out of total exports of $31.20 billion.
Export earnings from garments thus increased by $13.21 billion over the period, despite a decline in the number of factories and workers, they said.
“It can never be acceptable nationally or internationally that the workers behind the country’s top export sector remain the lowest paid,” the leaders said.
Citing estimates by organisations including the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the United Nations, they said a worker’s monthly needs were estimated at Tk57,000-70,000.
Food alone costs Tk35,080 a month for a family of four, they said. If food accounts for 50% of household expenditure, the family would need around Tk70,000 monthly. Even if the main earner contributes 60% of household income, they would need at least Tk37,000-38,000, they added.
The leaders said these estimates did not account for expenses such as caring for parents, recreation, medical emergencies, festival spending or travelling home.