Govt sets min. wage for cold storage workers at Tk 14K, with 5pc annual increment

The government has fixed Tk 14,000 as a minimum monthly wage for workers of the country's cold storage sector, which marks an increase of over 131 per cent.
It has also incorporated a provision of a 5.0-percent annual increment.
To this effect, the labour and employment ministry issued a gazette notification on December 05.
Earlier, the last wage for cold storage workers was reviewed in 2012 at Tk 6,050.
On September 12, the minimum wage board published a gazette notification seeking written objections or suggestions, if there is any, on its recommended Tk 14,000.
The ministry on January 25, 2021 formed the wage board for cold storage workers to review the wages.
According to the gazette notification, basic payment of a worker in grade four has been set at Tk 8,400 along with Tk 4,200 as house rent, Tk 800 as medical allowance and Tk 600 as transportation allowance.
For the grade three workers, the government set Tk 19,400 as a minimum monthly wage.
The wage for the grade-II workers has been set at Tk 20,264 and for grade-I workers, Tk 21,350 has been set as minimum monthly wage.
For all grades, 50 per cent of the basic pay has been set as house rent, Tk 800 as medical allowance and Tk 600 as transportation allowance. The government has also set Tk 9,800 as the monthly gross pay for the apprentice workers with the provision of a six-month apprenticeship.
The wage board consists of a chairman, an independent member, a permanent representative each from employers and workers and a temporary representative each from the employers and workers.
According to industry people, some 370 cold storages across the country create employment for nearly 6,000 people.

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