Knitwear workers to get 15pc wage hike
FE Report | Sunday, 10 August 2008
Knitwear manufacturers have announced an at least 15 per cent hike in the salaries for nearly a million of their factory workers to help them cope with rising prices of food and essential commodities.
The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), a group of about 1500 export-oriented knitwear factories, said the pay hike is expected to be effective from September, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"The BKMEA board in its meeting Saturday has agreed to the pay increase," BKMEA president Md. Fazlul Haque told the FE.
"The workers would get at least a 15 per cent increase in their salaries. We have made the decision as our workers are facing tough time to cope with rising cost of living," he said.
The association would make a final announcement of the pay hike within a week after holding meeting with labour and employment advisor.
Knitwear is the largest export earning industrial sector of Bangladesh, employing nearly one million workers in around 1,500 factories.
Earnings from knitwear garments in the outgoing fiscal which ended in June grew 21.5 percent to $5.53 billion, 1.24 percent above the target.
Haque said growing demand for Bangladeshi knit ted items in Europe and the United States would spur export boom for years, provided there is no major labour unrest in the factories.
"We made the increase without facing any pressure from anyone. We want a peaceful atmosphere in factories so that our production is not hampered and we can sustain growth," Haque said.
Bangladesh's exports surged 15.87 percent to $14.11 billion in the 2007/08 fiscal year from a year earlier, thanks to a rise in garments shipments.
The BKMEA president said during Ramadan shops would be opened in knitwear industrial areas selling food items such as rice, pulses, edible oil, sugar, onion and milk at less than the market price.
Food prices have nearly doubled in Bangladesh over the past year and generally rise further during Ramadan, starting early September.
The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), a group of about 1500 export-oriented knitwear factories, said the pay hike is expected to be effective from September, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"The BKMEA board in its meeting Saturday has agreed to the pay increase," BKMEA president Md. Fazlul Haque told the FE.
"The workers would get at least a 15 per cent increase in their salaries. We have made the decision as our workers are facing tough time to cope with rising cost of living," he said.
The association would make a final announcement of the pay hike within a week after holding meeting with labour and employment advisor.
Knitwear is the largest export earning industrial sector of Bangladesh, employing nearly one million workers in around 1,500 factories.
Earnings from knitwear garments in the outgoing fiscal which ended in June grew 21.5 percent to $5.53 billion, 1.24 percent above the target.
Haque said growing demand for Bangladeshi knit ted items in Europe and the United States would spur export boom for years, provided there is no major labour unrest in the factories.
"We made the increase without facing any pressure from anyone. We want a peaceful atmosphere in factories so that our production is not hampered and we can sustain growth," Haque said.
Bangladesh's exports surged 15.87 percent to $14.11 billion in the 2007/08 fiscal year from a year earlier, thanks to a rise in garments shipments.
The BKMEA president said during Ramadan shops would be opened in knitwear industrial areas selling food items such as rice, pulses, edible oil, sugar, onion and milk at less than the market price.
Food prices have nearly doubled in Bangladesh over the past year and generally rise further during Ramadan, starting early September.