The government has appointed representatives from both employers and workers to determine the minimum wages for employees in the readymade garment (RMG) sector. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has also issued separate official notifications appointing the neutral member, employer representative and worker representative to the minimum wage board.

The notifications were issued on Sunday (November 1) by the ministry’s Wage Board Branch and signed by Deputy Secretary Md Mahbubur Rahman.

According to the notifications, two representatives have been appointed from the employer and worker sides under Sections 138(3)(a) and 138(3)(b) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006.

ABM Shamsuddin, a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has been appointed as the employers’ representative.

Meanwhile, Babul Akhtar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), has been appointed as the workers’ representative.

In a separate notification issued under Sections 138(2) and 138(4) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, the government appointed a neutral member and additional representatives of employers and workers to the minimum wage board.

Professor Dr Mosleh Uddin Ahmed of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Dhaka has been appointed as the neutral member.

Asif Ayub, joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation, has been appointed as the employers’ representative, while Anwar Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, has been appointed as the workers’ representative.