Online Desk: The government on Tuesday announced Tk 12,500 as minimum salary for entry level Readymade Garment (RMG) workers, raising it by 56.25% from the existing one.

State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian announced the new wage structure for RMG workers which will be effective from December 1.

Earlier, the former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and representative of garment owners Md Siddiqur Rahman submitted a revised proposal for increasing workers’ salary by Tk 2100 from the previous proposal to Tk 12500 to Liaqat Ali Mollah, Chairman of the Minimum Wage Board at his office in Palatan.

Representative of garment owners for minimum wage Md Siddiqur Rahman, Jatiya Garment Sramik Karmachari League (JGSKL) president Sirajul Islam Rony, Liaqat Ali Mollah, chairman of the Minimum Wage Board, and labour ministry officials joined the meeting.

On October 22, the proposals from both sides were submitted to the Minimum Wage Board. The owners side proposed Tk 10,400 as minimum salary which the workers’ side denied to accept and they demanded Tk20,400.

Garments workers in the capital and adjoining areas returned to their workplaces on Sunday after 12 days of unrest for a minimum wage of Tk 23,000.

The minimum wage for garment workers was last fixed in 2018. Accordingly, the garment workers were getting a minimum wage of Tk 8,000. Now the minimum wage has been increased by Tk 4,500 and the salary hike rate is 56.25 percent.