DHAKA, Nov. 4 (nsnewswire) — The government board has recommended 5,300 taka as the minimum monthly wage for the country’s around 4 million garment workers.

  The government in May this year, formed the wage board, headed by a Judge AK Roy, to set a fresh minimum wage structure for the garment sector.

    Roy made the announcement in a press briefing Monday shortly after the board approved its  recommendation for about  77 percent wage hike from the existing pay in a month.

  Several incidents of labor unrest since May this year prompted the government to form the 4th minimum wage board. The board was given the responsibility to fix the minimum wage for nearly 4 million garment workers who are immensely contributing to the country’s export earning.

  Bangladesh garment workers have long been protesting to demand higher wages and safe working conditions, but their protests have become a much more common over the past weeks after five factories collapsed on April 24 in which at least 1,130 people were confirmed dead.

  The Savar tragedy revived questions about the commitments of factory owners and their global buyers to provide safe working conditions in the annually 20 billion U.S. dollars export sector, which comprises about 5,000 factories employing more than 4 million workers, 80 percent of whom are women.

  The persistent protest reached its peak in September when violence erupted in different areas forcing the authorities to shut the production of over 400 factories in Gazipur and Savar.

  Garment Sramik Samannay Parishad, a federation of trade unions in garment sectors, had earlier organized a rally to meet their different demands including raising minimum monthly salary to 8,000 taka.

  The owners also proposed hiking minimum salaries to  3,600 taka (over 46 U.S. dollars) triggering a wave of violent protests from RMG workers in places in Dhaka and key apparel hubs on the outskirts of the capital city .

  The owners Monday rejected the minimum wage 5,300 fixed by the wage-board. They turned down this decision at a voting procedure which took place as the owners and the workers could not reach a consensus on the minimum wage.

  It was not known immediately whether the workers’ organizations have hailed the board’s recommendation for a nearly 77 percent wage hike.

  The Bangladeshi government in July, 2010, set 3,000 taka  as the minimum monthly wage for the then over 2.5 million garment workers. The first minimum wage board in Bangladesh, found in 1994, fixed 940 taka  as the minimum wage for garment workers. The second one, formed in 2006, set the minimum wage at 1,662.50 taka.

  Thanks to its cheap labor, Bangladesh is now the world’s second largest garments exporter after China, producing global brands for customers around the world. Yet the country’s garment industry has been severely criticized over safety concerns and labor unrest over rock-bottom wages in recent years.