New RMG Wage Structure to Take Effect in December

The newly reconstituted Minimum Wage Board for the ready-made garment (RMG) sector held its first meeting on Wednesday, announcing that the new wage structure would take effect in December and workers would receive their increased wages from January 2027.

The timeline was announced by the board's employer representative ABM Shamsuddin and worker representative Babul Akhter after the meeting at the Minimum Wage Board office in Segunbagicha, Dhaka.

The meeting was chaired by the board's newly appointed chairman, District and Sessions Judge Syed Azad Subhani.

The first meeting of the reconstituted board came amid ongoing labour unrest in the garment sector and a series of high-level discussions over workers' demands for higher wages.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Syed Azad Subhani said the employer and worker representatives would submit their respective wage proposals at the next meeting.

The board's neutral member would also submit a proposal, after which formal discussions on the proposed wage rates would begin, he said.

The government reconstituted the Minimum Wage Board on Sunday through a gazette notification.

Under the notification, Dhaka University Professor Mosleh Uddin Ahmad was appointed as the board's neutral member. Asif Ayub, joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Employers' Federation, and Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, were appointed as permanent members representing employers and workers, respectively.

In a separate notification issued the same day, ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and Babul Akhter, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), were appointed as the sector-specific representatives of employers and workers, respectively.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs transferred former board chairman Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman to the Judicial Administration Training Institute as director (training) and appointed Syed Azad Subhani as his successor.

The ministry's notification did not specify a reason for the transfer.

On Tuesday evening, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to discuss the situation in the apparel sector.

After the meeting, Mahmud Hasan Khan told editors of major national dailies that an early announcement of the wage board's timeline would help reassure garment workers and restore stability in the sector.