Amid the ongoing tussle between the government and garment workers over minimum wage, a minimum wage board (MWB) has been formed for the employees of the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and Economic Zones (EZs).
Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) Executive Chairman Maj Gen Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, BEPZA Member Ali Reza Mazid, Joint Secretary Morsheda Akter, BEPZA Executive Director Tanvir Hossain, Bangladesh EPZ Investors' Association Chairman Shadad Mosharraf Hossaion, WWA representatives Najrul Islam and Mukta are among the eleven-member Board, according to a gazette published on Thursday last.
Laws and rules for the workers of the EPZs and EZs are different from that of the industries in the domestic tariff areas, outside the special zones.
A trade union is yet to be established, but factories in the zones have Workers' Welfare Associations (WWA) and the members become part of the wage board as per the Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act 2019.
Solidarity Centre Bangladesh legal counselor Selim Ahsan Khan told the FE that the last minimum wage board for the EPZ workers was formed in 2013 that fixed the minimum monthly wage at Tk 5,600.
Later in 2018, BEPZA reviewed the minimum wage upward to Tk 8,200, he said.
Mr Khan said that without the ability to form and join unions, workers are not able to engage in effective collective bargaining with their employers over the terms and conditions of their work.
Commenting on the status of workers' rights in the EPZs, he said the EPZ Act allows workers to form WWA. But through this association, they are prohibited from establishing any kind of connections with any NGOs, trade unions, or federations outside the EPZ, he added.
He said the EPZ Labour Rule prohibits the workers further from getting involved in any political parties. So, the ability of the EPZ workers to seek reparation for the violation of their rights is very limited, he noted.
Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity President Taslima Akhter said the law for all workers in the country should be the same as per our constitution.
She said the government has formed the board at a time when 4.0 million workers outside the EPZs are demanding Tk 25,000 minimum wage while the government primarily announced Tk 12,500.
She said the rights for all workers, from EPZs or outside EPZs, should be the same.
"We expect the government to consider the hike in the livelihood expenditure in the last five years while announcing the minimum wage for workers in the EPZs," she said. "And, garment workers outside EPZs would get their desired salary too."
As per BEPZA data, around 0.52 million workers are employed in the EPZs, of which 66 per cent are women.
Exports from the EPZs increased to US$ 8.5 billion in the fiscal year 2021-2022, and 54 per cent of this export earnings came from the garment sector.
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