The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) will start providing payslips to its workers under the latest wage structure today (Thursday), officials have said.
As per the new scale, a worker's minimum basic wage is Tk 8,300 which is double than the previous Tk 4,150.
The BJMC announced the wage board in 2015 that took effect from July 01 of the same year.
The dues of the workers have now stood at a staggering Tk 18.91 billion that will be provided gradually, a senior official said.
He said the workers will be given wage payslip from Thursday, but the money will be deposited in their bank accounts upon getting funds from the government.
However, the wage board saw the light of its implementation against the backdrop of a strike of workers in December 2019.
Thousands of workers of nine state-run jute mills in Khulna-Jashore industrial belt went on strike on December 10 to press home their 11-point demand, including the execution of wage commission.
The demands include payment of regular wages, cancellation of the public-private ownership, necessary funds for jute sector, insurance for families of deceased workers, provident fund and gratuity for retirees and regularisation of temporary workers.
The BJMC runs 26 jute mills, including three non-jute mills.
An estimated 70,000 workers, permanent, temporary and day-labourers included, are working in the state-owned jute mills.
As the mills have been incurring huge losses over the years, the BJMC fails to pay wages and other benefits to its workers regularly, insiders have said.
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