Trade union leaders in the readymade garment sector on Tuesday criticised the proposed budget for the 2024-25 financial year for not allocating any fund to offer essential commodities to RMG workers at subsidised rates amid soaring prices of the items.
At a press conference held at the National Press Club in the capital Dhaka, leaders of the IndustriAll Bangladesh Council said that they would launch a tough movement after Eid-ul-Azha if the allocation was not made in the budget for the purpose.
Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, will be celebrated in the country on June 17.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the proposed budget, labour leaders said that despite promise from the government, no allocation for workers’ food ration was included in the proposed budget.
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali placed the proposed budget for the 2024-25 financial year at Jatiya Sangsad in the capital Dhaka on June 6.
‘In 2023, prime minister Sheikh Hasina assured that she would consider implementing a food ration programme for workers. She gave the assurance in response to the demonstration of RMG workers in the Mirpur area of the city demanding wage adjustments to keep pace with growing inflation,’ IBC senior vice-president ZM Kamrul Anam said.
It is unfortunate that there was no reflection of the prime minister’s assurance in the proposed budget, he said.
Kamrul said that they would go for a tough movement after Eid if the government did not ensure allocation in the budget for the worker food ration programme.
At the press conference, the IBC announced six-point demands, including implementation of new minimum wage structure in all RMG factories, making Bangladesh Labour Act ‘labour friendly’ through necessary amendments and establishing housing for workers, hospitals and schools for the workers’ children in every industrial zones.
The IBC also demanded compensation to families of the workers who lost their lives during wage movements in the RMG sector and withdrawal of all criminal cases file against workers and workers leaders in connection with movements demanding wage hike.
IBC general secretary Shahidullah Badal said that the minimum wages for the RMG workers were set at Tk 12,500 in December 2023, but the amount was insufficient to meet the daily needs amid growing inflation.
He claimed that the new wage structure was yet to be implemented in many factories.
It was very unfortunate that 40 lakhs RMG workers were bringing more than 84 per cent of foreign currency for the country, but they are failing to meet their daily needs, Badal said.
Former IBC general secretary Kutubuddin Ahmed emphasised the importance of allocating fund for food ration, saying that the wages for RMG workers in Bangladesh were among the lowest in the world.
‘Ministers often claim that the current government is worker friendly, but there is no sign of the claim in the proposed budget,’ he said.
Regarding the labour act, he observed that workers’ rights declined with each amendment.
Kutubuddin called for the repeal of certain sections in the labour act that are detrimental to trade union rights.
