Staff Reporter:
The readymade garment (RMG) workers staged a demonstration in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday noon, rejecting their government-fixed minimum wage of Tk 12,500.
During the demonstration, they also claimed that three of their coworkers lost lives during the movement and demanded justice for those involved in the killing incidents.
Leaders and activists from various workers’ organisations brought out processions from Kadam Foara intersection near the press club around 11 am and marched up to Topkhana Road.
Later, they staged a demonstration in front of the press club, emphasising their demand for a minimum salary of Tk 23,000.
Addressing the protest rally, the leaders of the workers’ organisations rejected the government-fixed salary of Tk 12,500 and urged the authorities concerned to immediately announce a minimum wage of Tk 23,000 for them.
Garments Sramik Front President Khalekuzzaman Lipon and General Secretary Selim Mahmud spoke at the rally, among others, to meet their demand.
Earlier on November 7, the government announced Tk 12,500 as the minimum wage for the RMG workers.
\On October 21, the workers demanded that their minimum wage be increased from the existing Tk 8,000 to Tk 20,390 while the owners have proposed to increase it to Tk 10,400.
The garment workers in the capital and its adjoining areas have been staging demonstrations, pressing home their demand for a minimum wage of Tk 23,000.
