Form national wage board: BTUS

FE Report

Bangladesh Trade Union Songho (BTUS) on Monday urged the interim government to immediately form a national Minimum Wage Board and announce Tk 30,000 as the basic monthly wage for workers.

At a rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, they made the demand. They also placed several other demands, including right to form independent trade union and ensuring workplace safety in line with ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Earlier, the BTUS led by its President Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam took out a protest procession in Gulistan, according to a statement.

Leaders from different trade unions, including National Democratic Front Trade Union Association, Bangladesh Hotel Restaurant Sweet Meat Workers Federation, Bangladesh Sawmill Workers Federation, Bangladesh OSK Garments and Textile Workers Federation and BTUS Dhaka Metropolitan Committee, among others, spoke at the rally.

Addressing the event, labour leaders said that approximately 92 per cent of workers do not have any institutional recognition, resulting in a significant number of workers in the informal sector being deprived of the lawful benefits and rights.

Workers in the informal sector are often denied the basic entitlements under the labour law, such as appointment letters and identity cards, legal working hours, leave and maternity benefits and compensation payment. They alleged that despite global and local surveillance, workers of export-oriented sectors, especially those of readymade garment industry, are facing repression in clear violation of labour laws.

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