IndustriAll Bangladesh Council, a local chapter of a global rights group, urged the government to form a wage board to review the wage structure for the workers of the country’s readymade garment sector.
The IBC in a letter to labour and employment minister Ariful Hoque Chowdhury on Tuesday made the request.
The last minimum monthly wage of Tk 12500 for entry-level garment workers was announced in December 2023.
According to the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, it was mandatory to revise the minimum wage of workers every five years, which, in the latest amendments to the labour law 2026, was reduced to three years.
“In order to regularly review and update the wages of workers in line with the cost of living, inflation, productivity and the economic reality of the country, the government recently reduced this period from five years to every three years through the Bangladesh Labor (Amendment) Act, 2026,” the IBC president Kutub Uddin Ahmed said in the letter.
Three years of wage revision would end in December 2026, and the time has come for the new minimum wage to take effect as per the law, he explained.
“But it is a matter of great concern that no visible initiative has been taken so far to form a wage board to fix the new minimum wage,” he said.
However, he added, sufficient time is required to complete the wage review activities like forming a wage board, nominating members, collecting information and data, receiving stakeholder opinions, conducting public hearings, economic analysis and formulating recommendations.
“If initiatives are not taken now, it will be difficult to announce the new minimum wage within the stipulated time,” read the letter jointly signed by IBC president and general secretary Babul Akhter.
Currently, the cost of living of garment workers has increased significantly due to the increase in commodity prices, housing, medical, education, and other daily necessities.
Terming the RMG industry the ‘largest export earners’ and one of the pillars of the country’s economy, the right group requested the government to immediately form the Wage Board and start the necessary activities to re-fix the minimum wage for garment workers as per the provisions of the amended law.
It argued that ensuring timely and fair wages for workers is very important to maintain sustainable production, social stability and international competitiveness.
